San Pedro Tourism Industry Says No to Airport Near Secret Beach and to a Mexico Bridge

San Pedro’s tourism industry doesn’t want a new airport near Secret Beach, or a bridge linking Ambergris Caye to Mexico, according to the Belize Tourism Industry Association (BTIA).

BTIA says stakeholders were clearly on the same page at a meeting on Monday. Its San Pedro Chapter called the meeting, along with National President Efren Perez, to hear views on the airport proposal, what it could mean for the island and whether it’s needed right now.

The message for government, BTIA says, was to address the island’s pressing needs. Participants pointed to infrastructure, traffic, garbage, conservation, housing for residents, health services and safety.

BTIA also leans on World Bank findings about unplanned development, weak municipal services, pollution and coastal erosion. Let those pressures grow, it says, and tourism’s future, along with the jobs tied to it, is at risk.

Andre Perez, Minister of Blue Economy and Marine Conservation and area representative for Belize Rural South, was at the meeting. BTIA says he told stakeholders he believes in a phased approach to closing the John Greif II airstrip downtown and building a new airport. He also said the proposed northside airport needs public consultation, and that the community’s concerns will guide his position.

The meeting came as the San Pedro Town Council has formally voted against closing the existing airport. Meanwhile, the government says the island needs a new one.

BTIA says it will keep consulting, pull the feedback together and press the government for talks. It wants decisions based on “meaningful consultation, sound planning, and the long-term interests of Ambergris Caye’s residents and tourism sector.”