And while we wait on the results of that meeting, tourism stakeholders have 11 months to prepare for an increase in fees for Belize's archeological sites. It was announced yesterday in the Cabinet brief that an increase was approved and some of the popular destinations may see prices double. Today the Minister of Culture explained that it's necessary to continue to maintain the sites.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"We've had a lot of discussions and consultations. This takes effect November 20th. That's why we had to do it now. It takes effect one year from now, because that's what the tourism sector says they need."
"They need one year's notice. So that's why we did it now. But yeah, I mean, we have the lowest fees at our reserves in the entire region, both in Central America and the Caribbean. We have beautiful archaeological reserves."
"And in the case of visitors to Belize, they're paying, for example, to see the ATM cave, they're paying $30 Belize right now. So we're increasing that. You go anywhere else in the world. You go to Harrison's Cave in Barbados, they're paying $60 US to go in there."
"So it's absolutely important, because we complain about maintenance of these archaeological reserves. Well, we need money to maintain them, to upgrade them, to keep them functioning. So that's a part of it."
"And so this was, we consulted with everyone, and we're happy that cabinet approved it, as I said, to take effect one year from now."
Reporter
"From 30 Belize, it's going to go up to how much?"
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"Well, in that case, ATM will go to 60. We'll double it. But we'll release the entire schedule of new fees shortly."
Reporter
"NICH still doesn't have a permanent president, right?"
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"No, no, no. No permanent president."
Reporter
"How is this search for that going?"
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"Yeah, I mean, it's the board. We're looking at it. We're looking at it. But we have excellent directors. There's no sense of urgency."
We'll have perspective from tour guides next week.
