Is Ambergris Caye’s Tourism Driving Belizeans Off Their Own Land?

Area Representative Andre Perez admitted this week that development on Ambergris Caye has gone “a bit too fast” and that the government has been “acutely aware” of it. But cranes are still up, dredging continues, and new developments keep breaking ground, particularly in the north of the caye.

For some, that raises an uncomfortable question: is San Pedro being built for Belizeans, or for those it hosts? Tourists.

Perez pushed back on claims that locals are being priced out in an interview with News 5 on Wednesday. He pointed to over 1,000 lots developed for “first-time” Belizean landowners as proof the government is keeping the door open.

“Everyone here, the new generation, first-time landowners, are getting the opportunity to get a piece of land,” he said. “So that is actually counteracting those that are saying [they] are being outpriced.”

“It remains on them to decide whether they want to sell or not, but they have been delivered in their hands a title that says they have a piece of Ambergris Caye,” Perez added. 

But affordability is only part of the picture. The steadily growing tourism traffic through the island has brought with it investments that have altered the island’s identity. Residents have felt the rise of land values and are raising concerns that the very growth that is fuelling San Pedro’s economy could eventually price out the community that built it.

“I can hear the concerns of certain people, especially in the tourism business,” Perez said. “Perhaps it’s time to look and say, ‘Let’s take a pause in development,’ because it’s going a bit too fast. So as a government, we are aware of it, acutely aware of it.”