Today's press encounter allowed us to ask the head of the Belize Hotel Association and the new CEO in the Ministry of Tourism and Diaspora Affairs about the slow recovery of the tourism industry.
They told us why March and April of this year show the pace of this important sector's recovery from the pandemic:
Ted Tejada - President, Belize Hotel Association "We opened on October 1st. We saw at least 4,500 guests coming to Belize - international. In December, a little bit over 10,000. When we saw the new administration in the US come on board, there was mandatory testing before you travel back to the US, and not only, a recommended 7 day quarantine. Immediately, we saw a decrease in numbers in January. I believe it was about 7,500. I can tell you that in February - actually March right now, we have beaten the prognostications that we had. We have over 13,000 people who arrived on our shores for March. And we believe that April is going to be the number 1 month because of Easter. It does taper down a little bit after that, but people are ready to travel, and we need to be ready. We're one of the first countries that are advertising that once you've been vaccinated, you really don't need to bring a test. You're free to come into our country, and that is very important. Our guests don't want to have barriers coming into any country. They're coming on vacation."
Nicole Solano - CEO, Ministry of Tourism and Diaspora Relations "We're looking at a slight, steady increase over the coming months. So, it's encouraging. We have heard from the private sector that bookings have gone up. Obviously, over the Easter Weekend, we have a lot of Belizeans traveling, which is very important as well to keep the industry going and boost the morale for everybody in tourism."
