And, while we got the opportunity, we spoke with the New Director of Tourism, Karen Bevans. She's been holding the post for a little over 2 months now, after she replaced Laura Esquivel-Frampton, who made a less than orderly exit after her senior management pulled a palace coup on her and made a no-confidence vote to Tourism Minister, Manuel Heredia Jr.

Since then, the transition seems to have been seamless, but there is still that issue of that deficit of several million dollars in the last fiscal year. That affects the BTB going forward and today, we asked Bevans about the financial position of the BTB, and about her impression as the new director of this major industry:

Karen Bevans - Director, BTB
"The industry is very nice, very exciting to work in. It is a change for me, but I do think that there is a lot to do. We have made great strides in the past. We have come a long way, but we are not where we want to be and we recognize that, so recognizing that we have a lot to do and we need to plan the way forward together I think is a good start. We discuss quite a few initiatives here this morning and the intention now is to implement our action plan. Let's do it together and we will go much farther than we are today."

Daniel Ortiz
"Now ma'am, we not that there was not a very quiet departure of the previous director where her heads under her wrote to the minister involved. Can you give us an impression because the picture they were painting is that the BTB was in a cash flow crisis? Is it as bad as the perception that is out in the public?"

Karen Bevans - Director, BTB
"It's difficult for me to comment on the past situation. What I can say is that today we are turning over a new leaf. WE are looking at where we are now, how can we move forward, how can we grow the industry. We are focusing more on the positive aspects where tourism growth is blooming. We have had 12% growth over the past 6 months of this year and April alone for example accounted for 23% growth. The other big thing we are looking at is that this year we will reach our 1 million milestone for tourist arrival in Belize and we are planning for that. We are looking at what is there for us in growth, what is more positive, what can build the industry grow the industry, rather than focus on the past. First the past is a learning experience and we learn from the past but not live in the past."

Bevans left BTL at the end of March after 25 years at the telecommunications company.

Channel 7