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Belize City, January 25, 2012
Members attending the annual FCCA (Florida Cruise Companies Association) meeting in Florida this weekend got the clear message “present operating conditions in Belize endanger the future of Belize’s Cruise Tourism Industry”. Operating companies such as Royal Caribbean and Carnival stated openly that they were “fed up” with the indecisiveness of this government and its relevant parties to resolve issues such as tendering, crime and marine safety.
Attending the meeting for GOB were, among others, Lindsay Garbutt, the CEO Tourism, and Kevin Gonzalez, BTB’s CEO. Some of the most well known personalities in the Industry were there including Mike McFaden, Cruise Tourism renowned specialist. Mention was made of last week’s cancellation of two of Carnival’s newest and largest ships, the MV Valor and MV Glory. Each cancelled ship hits Belizeans in the pocket by some $320,000. Thanks to a “Do Nothing” government, last week Belizeans lost $640,000 that could have put food on the table for their loved ones.
Ten years ago when the then PUP Government absorbed an abundance of criticism by taking the bold and visionary step of working with the private sector to develop the Belize Tourism Village, Cruise Tourism soared from 43,000 to almost a 1,000,000 tourist coming to our shores to spend and buy our goods and services. Thousands of jobs were created, hundreds of new productive opportunities were invested in. Belize was on the move with its many attractions and loving people to become the crown jewel in the Cruise Tourism Industry. Since then, the PUP advanced the agenda every year to keep the companies involved interested in growing Belize as a destination.
The next step was to build a facility to dock the ships providing more safety and security for the Cruise Tourist and their hosts. Since the Government changed absolutely nothing new has happened, as a matter of fact when we hear on the news about this industry it is because someone was robbed, arrested or there is utter chaos in some corner of a now misgoverned industry.
If the Valor and Glory (4,500 passengers) find our facilities lacking, how will we attract the Oasis class (5,000 passengers plus) or worst the upcoming Genesis class (6,000 passengers plus)? These new ships along with the competitiveness of the industry demand constant attention and innovation. The plans and financing are available to solve the docking and safety problems, and reduce crime significantly.
This Government must understand, as the Companies said at the FCCA meeting last weekend “if there is not a precise date for the execution of the required plan to solve their problems, Belize will be off their charts”! Thousands more Belizeans will be left destitute without a means to make a living!!
What are the particulars with respect to "issues such as tendering, crime and marine safety"?
I've never been on a cruise ship, but I've been to "Tourism Village" several times (true marketing genius, that one) and I've seen it in action when the cruise ship crowds arrive. Almost all of them got on a waiting bus and went elsewhere, like cave tubing. The others seemed content to wander up and down the dock, buying t-shirts and other local swag followed by drinking and/or eating in the bars and restaurants. From my limited experience, it appeared to go smoothly.
And then there's Placencia, where the specter of cruise ships sends a shudder through at least some of the locals.
Laurie, Where did you get this from? We cruise in 16 days and Belize and Costa Maya are in the schedule along with Roatan and Cozumel. We are cruisint on Dream
I am all for keeping the big cruise ships out of Belize. The reef can't take that type of traffic, anything to keep the worlds second largest in its amazing condition is a win for divers...
The real issue with Carnival is that they want a far larger slice of the cake than is reasonable. They want to run their own boat tenders from their moored ships, whereas there are well established and reputable locally-owned ones. The reason they've given is that the local boats aren't big enough, which is frankly poppycock - but if they hadn't chosen that as a reason they would have found another. The real reason has nothing to do with passenger (guest) safety or convenience, and everything to do with cruise ship profits. Most people in the tourism industry in Belize don't want the cruise ships here, as they inject very little income into the local economy yet consume a disproportionate share of natural resources.
The OP quoted the "PUP government" as having been visionary and really having benefited Belize, which I think reveals the motive for the post. There is a General Election coming up shortly and the PUP (which traditionally has been the more corrupt of the two parties in contention) wants to boot out the incumbent UDP and take power again. Seems to me he's chosen the wrong forum, as most people here don't care about Belize politics.
The factor linking the cruise ship industry to Belizean politics is that the politicians in charge expect large kickbacks from the cruise ship operators. Needless to say, these kickbacks will NOT find their way into public funds to benefit the Belizean people. The only way to benefit those people is to come to Belize as an independent traveller and use locally-provided facilities so that your money stays in Belize and is not directly channelled back into a multi-national corporation. If you do that you'll also have a far better time. Belize has a vast amount to offer the visitor, but you won't see much of it from a cruise ship.
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