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IMPORTANT: Please vote in Channel 5’s e-poll about whether cruise ships should come to Placencia.



http://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/37420

Placencia tour guides say no to cruise tourism

Proposed cruise ship tourism is running into trouble in the south. The Placencia Tour Operators Association has come out against strongly against this type of tourism on the peninsula. According to a release, the tour operators object to cruise ship tourism because of “a detrimental effect of cruise ship tourism on Placencia’s traditional overnight tourists, with known economic benefits from overnight tourism outweighing possible economic benefits from cruise tourism.” The release also sites adverse effects of mass tourism on fragile marine and inland environments such as coral reefs and bird habitats; the group also alleges that local sites are over carrying capacity without the ability to accommodate mass tourism numbers. One significant point in the release states that less employment opportunities are available for Belizeans in the cruise tourism than in traditional overnight tourism. The Placencia Tour Operators Association concluded by asking government to invest more in the overnight tourism sector.

Channel 5 Belize

E-poll results show strong opposition to cruise tourism in Placencia

Still on the issue of cruise tourism, the chairman of the Placencia Village Council sat on the couch of Open Your Eyes this morning. According to Charles Leslie Jr., residents on the Placencia peninsula have learnt that investors friendly to Royal Caribbean cruise lines have acquired property in the area for the establishment of a cruise tourism village. Emotions are running high on this issue and our blog was overflowing today with comments on the merits and disadvantages of cruise ship tourism in the Placencia peninsula. When we checked our e-poll, seventy-one percent were dead set against the proposed plan while twenty-nine percent voted in favour. Lindsay Howard wrote in part that “Mass cruise ship tourism would destroy the hard won over night tourism that the area has so carefully built in the past twenty years.” The comments were interesting and informed and can be viewed on our website.

Channel 5 Belize

PLACENCIA TOUR OPERATORS SAY NO TO CRUISE TOURISM IN THEIR AREA

The Tour Operators Association in Placencia is objecting to cruise ship tourism in that area. In a release issued by the association on Monday, there are several points put forth for this objection. Among the issues raised were the lack of necessary infrastructure in southern Belize for mass cruise ship tourism such as sewage treatment, public restrooms, garbage collection and disposal and roads. Other issues noted included the detrimental effect of cruise ship tourism on Placencia overnight tourist arrivals, the adverse effects on the fragile marine and inland environments, and Belize’s inability to enforce laws regulating cruise tourism. The Association ended its release stating that they are calling on the Government of Belize for assistance in strengthening locally owned Belizean businesses and increasing the area’s traditional local overnight tourism.

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