"TOUCAN TRAIL" INEXPENSIVE HOTEL PLAN NEARS KICK-OFF The "Toucan Trail," a marketing initiative by the Belize Tourist Board to promote more than 100 small hotels with room prices of US$60 a night or less, is soon to be under way. To date, the BTB has visited 112 small hotels in 22 villages and towns. The hotels have to meet specific criteria set by the BTB, and operators have to sign a pledge of good business practices. These hotels, many of them off the beaten path, will be listed and profiled on a web site, www.toucantrail.com, which is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2004, according to the BTB. Currently, the web site is up but has limited information.

--Lan Sluder

Lan Sluder/Belize First
http://www.belizefirst.com