Global Economy Squeezes Belize Tourism Industry

Belize’s tourism industry is heading into the high season with some ground to recover. Overnight arrivals fell by roughly five percent in June compared to the same month last year, and Tourism Minister Anthony Mahler says the slowdown continued in the months that followed, with August taking a particularly hard hit. But with new flights coming online and the busiest travel period approaching, Mahler believes the industry can attract more visitors and finish the season on stronger footing.

 

Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism

“I think that’s a regional and global trend happening. The World Cup some experts said that there would be spillover. I didn’t believe that from day one. I challenged that. And so I think we’re going to be okay heading into the last quarter of the year, especially with the new flights that we’re doing. We have six new flights coming in, and then we  hopefully we can announce one, the European one that the PM said. So I think good things are going to happen for the latter part of this year. But the first five months were up, and then the last three months very soft, especially I believe August.”

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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