Placencia's Chairman says the village is not just for foreign visitors

Placencia is a small village located in the Stann Creek District of Belize with the eastern side of the Peninsula being a long expanse of white sandy beach. But besides it’s sandy beach, Placencia has a lot to offer both to local and international tourists. One can partake in reef tours, Mayan and Jungle Tours, take a stroll or lay on the beach, and soak up the Caribbean sun. Plus news sat down with Placencia’s Village Chairman; Charles Leslie Jr. and discussed challenges and positives taking place within that area.

Charles Leslie Jr – Placencia’s Village Chairman:
I am very pleasantly surprised. I have noticed that the past year and a half that we get a lot of people coming from for example, Belmopan, Belize City, to come spend the weekend here with their families. So I am really pleased to see that Belizeans have started to release that Placencia is not just for tourists from other countries; Placencia has everything and a budget for everyone. �

The unique thing about this community though is that it can be accessed by air, land and sea; and over the Easter weekend, the village saw a peak in both local and international visitors. Leslie Jr. says that the next big event which they have already began prepping for is the upcoming lobster fest to be held in June.

Charles Leslie Jr – Placencia’s Village Chairman:
vlcsnap-2013-04-05-21h24m01s115The next big event we are working on and we basically work on this event right after we are finished - that's one of the biggest fundraiser for the Placencia Village Council and one of the biggest for the Placenica BTIA is the Placencia Lobster Fest and that will be in the end of June and that's our next big event. That should be and has always been a fun event, because it's not just like Easter weekend with party, it's more of a family event. You come down, you enjoy the beach and you enjoy all the amazing lobster dishes made locally and you actually get to meet a lot of people from all over the world. So it's a really nice event. �

Besides the upcoming lobster fest, Leslie says that they are trying to bring other activities on stream so that Placencia can also play a major role in Belize’s tourism. One of those activities is a bicycle race geared at attracting local and foreign riders.

Charles Leslie Jr – Placencia’s Village Chairman:
It's a cycling event where it starts at Mile 23, and at the beginning of the Placenica Road, and then it comes down all the way down at the Sports Field, and that’s the end point. They also have people who compete from all over Belize, and people who came in from different foreign countries.� This year we’re expecting that to be bigger, and we’re expecting that to become another iconic event for Placencia Peninsula.

The village of Placencia has a population of approximately 1200 persons. In next week’s news cast we’ll tell you about land issues and a pier which is being built in Placencia to accommodate yachts.

PlusTV