Tourism Stakeholders Hopeful Amid Grave Uncertainty

Belize’s tourism industry is holding steady, but not without some serious headwinds. There’s hope on the horizon, but also a fair bit of uncertainty. Over in the U.S., job losses have hit a twenty-two-year high, and a prolonged federal shutdown is tightening wallets. That’s bad news for discretionary spending, and tourism is feeling the pinch. Here at home, the ripple effect is already showing. Overnight tourist arrivals in September dropped by eight-point-six percent. But despite the dip, there’s a sense of resilience. Reynaldo Malik Jr., President of the Belize Hotel Association, says the industry has learned a lot from the COVID years. Stakeholders are better prepared now, and there are still reasons to be optimistic.

 

Reynaldo Malik Jr., President, Belize Hotel Association

“Whether you’re talking about tourism or anything else in the Belizean economy, if North America sneezes, we’re going to catch a cold. Right now our cold has edged up into a little bit of a serious flu is the analogy that I would use there. And there are a lot of uncertainties, particularly in the US market right now. Job numbers came out for October yesterday and it was at an all-time high. It was the highest amount of jobs that had been laid off in October, in twenty-two years. I think it was like a hundred and thirty-five thousand more than had ever been laid off in that month. When you then take that and you add on the federal government locked down in the US right now, they’re the largest employer in the US. That means that discretionary income – discretionary spending is going to be affected when you’re hearing about people having to take a part-time job because they’re not getting paid at their regular job. I saw some signs this morning on the international news that the lockdown is looking to be over in the next couple of days – fingers crossed on that. We all know what happens when our neighbors to the north get that back pay. Hey, just like what happened to COVID, we’re looking to see a boost in travel plans being made and we are hoping that Belize is going to be right at the top of the list for people.”