BHA Objects to Proposed Hotel Tax Increase

Lo Could a higher hotel tax make Belize a harder sell for visitors? Government is considering raising the accommodation tax from nine to twelve-point-five percent, but the tourism industry is pushing back. Hoteliers warn that the increase could raise vacation costs, drive visitors to competing destinations and further squeeze already narrow profit margins. Belize Hotel Association President Reynaldo Malik says the association has formally objected to the proposal.

 

Reynaldo Malik, President, Belize Hotel Association

“I don’t know  if you’ve looked or shopped a plane ticket to Belize recently, but it’s not cheap to come to Belize. Okay? And so that part is out of our control, but what is in our control is how much the cost here in Belize is concerned. And it’s not just about plane tickets. We’ve had almost a thirty percent increase in fuel prices. Fuel is necessary to the hotel industry. We have vans, we have shuttles, we have our properties that are off grid that have to run on generators twenty-four hours a day. You realize that, for instance, any property that is running on generator twenty-four hours a day, their fuel costs went up. If they’re burning, you could do the math. If you’re burning fifty to fifty-five gallons of diesel per day, right? And your cost escalated by thirty percent, anybody with a first form education can sit down and do that math. And let us, and you will see a tremendous effect that is having on us. We’re at a time where our margins are already compressed. How much the amount that we were able to claim as net revenue or net profit last year. That has been decimated, right? And here we are talking about adding a three and a half percent tax. The BHA sent a letter to the Minister of Tourism on Monday last stating exactly what I’m saying right now. But not only do we just say no to any new tax, we basically pointed out that the industry, because we are perceived as the strongest industry, right? A lot of time, they say don’t check on the people that are strong, but we also need assistance, right? We need, we are susceptible to the exact same issues that face every other industry in this country, and we also need assistance as well.”

 

Malik warned that increasing the cost of visiting Belize could drive travelers to competing destinations such as Cancun, Jamaica and Costa Rica, where prices are often lower.

 

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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