And while the military buildup may deter tourists, on the other hand, Caribbean destinations stand to benefit from the misfortune that hurricane Melissa rained down on Jamaica. It's not anything anyone would ever wish upon a sister nation, but it could drive more visitors to Belize:
Jules Vasquez
"Will the very sad and unfortunate event that happened with Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica, will that help the tourist arrivals that other Caribbean destinations like Belizean?"
Efren Perez, President - BTIA
"I think it's quite an unfortunate situation for for Jamaica. I think any country would, would, would be going through the same issue with them. I mean, it's it's an impact that that nobody desires at the, at the start of high season particularly. But I think that, that there are opportunities that that would come up for countries like Belize whereby we would be able to take advantage, that travelers will be seeking the Caribbean destinations."
"Hopefully, you know, if, if we get a resolution, in the US Congress, you know, obviously Belize stands, a winning chance in terms of really attracting some of that, tourist arrivals to the country."
"You know, I mean, we we definitely don't want to say I mean, we're going to, we're going to take advantage of what has happened to Jamaica. But, you know, at this at the given time, I mean, we're in an industry that is very dynamic. You know, we we realize that things can happen from day to day without, you know, us having control over certain things as what we are experiencing currently, too."
