But millions spent on marketing can be undone by just one terrible event - like the murder of US doctor Gary Swank on San Pedro in June of 2019. That caused a massive wave of cancellations.
And with the Bullet Tree murder of Canadian National Marty Anne Thorne two weeks ago - the industry is again bracing for possible fallout.
When we asked the head table about this today, their response was that violence, whether targeting locals or foreigners, severely impacts our image as a tourist destination.
Reynaldo Malik, President, Belize Hotel Association
"Any violent crime in Belize practically has the same impact. It is magnified a bit more I believe because that individual happens to be a citizen from a country we are working to increase air traffic from. But I think overall anytime we have anything that is violent that happens in the country, whether you are talking about a full on murder or you are talking about gender based violence, anything that is violent, it affects our ability to sell or market ourselves as a destination. Many travelers around the world choose where they want to go on vacation based on social impacts that they view or how they view the country and if they do not see us as a particularly peaceful society then that will impact us in general."
Evan Tillet, Director of Tourism
"Obviously, it affects us negatively. And I think if you remember the issue that we had in San Pedro when the doctor was killed, the numbers dropped, I think, immediately by maybe 20%. So any sort of negative matters or issues like that affects us gravely as an industry."
