Last night we told you about the increased number of airplane seats that will be available for travelers to Belize in 2026. Indeed, what they call "airlift" is the Holy Grail of the overnight tourism sector. But, while Belize has more air carriers than ever coming from more cities across the hemisphere - it comes at a cost. Gone are the days when airlines would determine destinations based on pure touristic value. These days, it's money or nothing. We found out more at yesterday's tourism sector press briefing at the Biltmore. Jules Vasquez reports:
When new airlines such as Spirit open up a new route to Belize, it's cause for celebration. But the arrival is the product of months of lobbying and negotiating - and, now, even, paying airlines to add Belize as a destination:
Evan Tillett, Director of Tourism
"I think post covid the dynamics have changed in terms of airlift. In terms of, you're trying to get a ne airlift to your destination and it is now a sort of area where, I would say it's "pay to play.""
And that means subsidizing these flights - either in marketing costs or actually paying for unfilled seats"
Evan Tillett, Director of Tourism
"One of our major ways of doing it is to use marketing investment. So you would invest along in marketing, to market the airlines. And I think that for us is a better approachthan maybe paying outright for seats."
"The, the space is becoming more competitive and I don't know if we will have to go deep down that road, but we will continue to work to try additional airlift into the destination."
Evan Tillett, Director of Tourism
"Like real talk, if we had to bring a flight from Europe we would have to pay insurance for seats. (Passes mic)"
"We don't necessarily have to, like you said, pay for seats as much as more do, do a guarantee, a revenue guarantee."
Viewed optimistically Malik says it's a gamble on our own product:.
Reynaldo Malik, President, Belize Hotel Association
"We're betting on ourselves because when we sit in the room with the airline executives and we say come to Belize, take the plane, your very very expensive plane with your very expensive crew"
"So we're saying come to Belize, your seats will sell, you will sell out because everybody wants to come to Belize. And the airline executives say, "aha, you wah bet on it?" And then they call the bluff, and we say yes, we'll bet on it. We will give you a guarantee that you are going to make the kind of money, and we're telling you. And it's that kind of confidence that you need to walk into those boardrooms with."
Especially when confidence comes at no cost, and cash isn't freely available
Reynaldo Malik, President, Belize Hotel Association
"The fact is that we don't have the kind of money to pay to play, the way other destinations, the way Cancun does."
