$1.1 Million In Grants to Tourism Entrepreneurs
Today Belize’s tourism industry is getting a major boost through the Sustainable and Inclusive Belize program. Thirty-nine tourism entrepreneurs from across the country received grant funds totaling more than one million dollars to help them grow their business in a sustainable manner. The grants of up thirty thousand dollars per business, are designed to help operators strengthen their products, become more climate resilient and enhance the overall visitor experience across Belize. Investment and Innovation Specialist at the Belize Tourism Board, Simone Bell, says the program is not only providing financial support but also equipping participants with the skills needed to grow and sustain their businesses.
Simone Bell
Simone Bell, Investment and Innovation Specialist, Belize Tourism Board
“This program actually is one of the tools that we’re using to strengthen our tourism product. As the CEO mentioned, like, our brand is Belize, and it’s something that we want to protect. And each and everyone here, whether they’re an artisan, a tour operator, a lodging, hotel, or a restaurant contributes to our tourism product. And as such, we want to ensure that all experiences are remarkable, and that each one is equipped with the tools that they need to perform so that we can strengthen the product of Belize and become more competitive in the region.”
Shane Williams
“And the training that they receive, how will that assist them? Uh, and how is that overall available for the wider sector?”
Simone Bell
“Okay. So the training that they receive comprise of a business planning component. Um, they work through financial management capacity building. Um, today we actually had a training session with DFC as our partners, where they went through step by step in all of the financial statements to help them understand that. You know, at times you work on our business and we work in our business, and we need to step back and actually work a little bit more on the business and identify what are the areas where we can grow, where the deficiencies are. And when we step back and we sit and we begin to plan and structure the business, we begin to realize that there’s a lot more that we could be doing to grow our product. There’s a lot more reach. We could be identifying new markets. We could be employing sustainable measures so that we’re climate resilient, so that when these shocks take place, we have a plan for it. And I think that’s essentially what this program is about and what the tourism component is about.”
Another cohort of forty tourism entrepreneurs are currently receiving training and will be receiving grant funds as well. The Sustainable and Inclusive Belize program is financed by the Inter-American Development Bank and has also provided grants to over six hundred entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector of Belize.
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.