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#96824 01/31/05 12:25 PM
Joined: Apr 2000
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Here are the just-released figures from the Caribbean Tourism Organization (of which Belize is a member) on 2004 overnight and cruise tourism to the region. Most figures are from January to October or November 2004, but some countries report for different periods.

By these numbers, Belize's tourism levels and growth perhaps aren't as rosy as some have suggested. The only category in which Belize excelled was in cruise ship visitation, where it ranked 8th in the Caribbean and 1st in growth. It ranked 18th in overall overnight tourism in the Caribbean, behind a number of small island nations including Aruba, Barbados, Martinique, St. Maarten, Trinidad & Tobago, St. Lucia, Curacao, and Antigua, and it ranked near the bottom in overnight tourism growth in the past year.

Belize also lags its Central American neighbors in overnight tourism. Numbers from 2003 (which may not be directly comparable to CTO numbers) show Costa Rica had more than 1 million visitors, almost five times as many as Belize. Guatemala got 884,000 visitors and Honduras 611,000, compared to about 221,000 for Belize in the 2003 year.

Still, it's certainly the case that Belize's current tourism numbers are a big improvement over those in the 1990s, and San Pedro in particular has seen a signficant uptrend.

International Tourism Arrivals (Overnight Visitors)
1. Dominican Republic 3,443,000 (Jan-Dec)
2. Cancun 1,972,000 (Jan-Oct)
3. The Bahamas 1,450,000 (Jan-Dec)
4. Jamaica 1,279,000 (Jan-Nov)
5. Cuba 1,134,000 (Jan-Jun)
6. Puerto Rico 1,082,000 Jan-Sep)
7. Aruba 608,000 (Jan-Oct)
8. Barbados 555,000 (Jan-Dec.)
9. U.S. Virgin Islands 550,000 (Jan-Oct)
10. Martinique 407,000 (Jan-Oct)
10. St. Maarten 358,000 (Jan-Sep)
11. Triniidad & Tobago 328,000 (Jan-Sep)
12. St. Lucia 298,000 (Jan-Dec)
13. Bermuda 258,000 (Jan-Nov)
14. Cozumel 244,000 (Jan-Jul)
15. Curacao 223,000 (Jan-Dec)
16. Antigua 222,000 (Jan-Nov)
17. Cayman Islands 214,000 (Jan-Jul)
18. BELIZE 209,000 (Jan-Nov)
19. Turks & Caicos 132,000 (Jan-Sep)
20. Guyana 108,000 (Jan-Nov)
21. Grenada 90,000 (Jan-Jul)
22. Suriname 78,000 (Jan-Jul)
23. St. Vincent & Grenadines 75,000 (Jan-Nov)
24. Bonaire 57,000 (Jan-Nov)
25. Anguilla 48,000 (Jan-Nov)


Overnight Tourism Growth (2003-2004)
1. Guyana 23.4%
2. Cozumel 18.7%
3. Montserrat 18.3%
4. Anguilla 16.5%
5. Cayman Islands 14.5%
5. Aruba 14.5%
7. Cuba 13.4%
8. St. Maarten 14.1%
9. Cancun 11.5%
10. Saba 11.1%
11. St. Vincent & Grenadines 10.9%
12. Antigua 10.3%
13. U.S. Virgin Islands 10.1%
14. Grenada 9.2%
15. Trinidad & Tobaco 8.0%
16. St. Lucia 7.8%
17. St. Eustatius 7.5%
18. Puerto Rico 6.9%
19. Turks & Caicos 6.2%
20 Dominica 5.7%
21. Jamaica 5.5%
22. Dominican Republic 5.4%.
23. Bermuda 5.3%
24. BELIZE 4.6%
25. Barbados 4.5%
26. Martinique 3.9%
27. Bahamas 1.5%
28. Bonaire 1.0%
29. Curacao 0.9%
30. Suriname 0.0%


Cruise Visitation
1. Bahamas 3,360,000 (13.1% growth)
2. U.S. Virgin Islands 1,964,000 (10.7%)
3. Cozumel 1,739,000 (9.0%)
4. Cayman Islands 1,192,000 (12.0%)
5. Puerto Rico 1,065,000 (13.5%)
6. Jamaica 966,000 (-4.6%)
7. St. Maarten 783,000 (19.1%)
8. BELIZE 748,000 (55.1%)
9. Barbados 739,000 (32.2%)
10. St. Lucia 481,000 (22.4%)
11. Aruba 380,000 (1.6%)
12. Antigua 374,000 (28.8%)
13. Dominican Republic 362,000 (n/a)
14. Curacao 219,000 (-21.5)
15. Bermuda 206,000 (-8.8%)

--Lan Sluder


Lan Sluder/Belize First
http://www.belizefirst.com
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Interesting information. Thanks for sharing!

Dominican Republic number one? Never been there, maybe I need to check it out.

And where the heck is Guyana?

Joined: May 2001
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Personally, I would turn those lists upside down to figure out where I wanted to visit (especially the cruise ship list) or better yet look for some place that it didn't make it on any of those lists.

Joined: Apr 2000
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The Dominican Republic always has big tourism numbers, because it specializes in package deals for European tourists, mostly low-end.

Guyana is in South America. Near Suriname. Remember the Jim Jones Kool-Ade mass suicide? A little like Belize was 40 years ago.

I agree with Chris that some of the small places in the Caribbean are the most interesting. Two of my favorites are Saba and Statia (St. Eustatius). Both get fewer than 10,000 tourists a year and essentially no cruise tourism.

But then I'm not a hotel or restaurant owner.

--Lan Sluder


Lan Sluder/Belize First
http://www.belizefirst.com
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Haiti didn't make it on the list.


Check out my site: www.ambergriscayerealestate.net
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The DR is very popular in the US too. Cheap all inclusive package deals. It's the other end of Haiti...

Joined: Jan 2004
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re:DR. Canada too, it's even cheaper than the Cancun AIs a lot of times.

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Lan,
Thanks for compiling the interesting stats. Does anyone know where the 2004 stats for tourist overnights to different parts to Belize might be found? In other words for all of Belize's overnight tourists how many were in A.C., how many were in Cayo, etc.?
Thanks again,
Carlton

Joined: Apr 2000
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The Belize Tourist Board's site www.travelbelize.org has some statistical information.

--Lan Sluder


Lan Sluder/Belize First
http://www.belizefirst.com
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,054
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The BTB also has a different spin on Belize's numbers:

>>

Belize Tourism Board
Central Bank Building, Level 2
Gabourel Lane, Belize City
Tel: 223-1913, Fax: 223-1943, E-mail: [email protected]

For Immediate Press Release:




Total Tourism Arrivals for 2004 Continue to Show Increased Growth

Belize City, Tuesday, February 1st, 2005- Belize has been the one of the only countries within the Caribbean to experience increases with respect to overall tourist arrivals since 1998. The year 2004 has proven similarly successful for arrivals predominantly through the two key ports of entry, being the Philip Goldson International Airport and Fort Street Tourism Village.

As the Philip Goldson International Airport (PGIA) arrivals represent approximately 70 percent of total overnight arrivals in Belize, these figures take on significant magnitude. There were 9 record-breaking months of tourist arrivals via PGIA. Arrivals for the four quarters of 2004 recorded increases of 10.7 percent, 1.7 percent, 5.4 percent, and 10.1 percent respectively over the corresponding quarters of 2003. Total arrivals at the PGIA from January -December 2004 stood at a record 7.0 percent increase over last year.

Arrivals from all border points, inclusive of PGIA, Santa Elena Border Station, Belize Western Border Station, Dangriga Town Seaport, Punta Gorda Seaport, for the period January - December, 2004 recorded an overall increase of 4.7 percent over the same period in 2003.

On a similar note, these increases in overnight tourism arrivals are additionally reflected in hotel tax revenues. Hotel taxes collected as of the end of December 2004, indicate that room revenues for overnight arrivals total BZ$92,511,619.00, representing an exceptional growth of 17 percent over 2003 total of BZ$78.9 million dollars.

The Hotels Department reported that employment in the hotel sector was up once again. Employment in the hotel sector stood at 3,770 or a 9.4 percent increase over the 3,447 figure for 2003. Of that 3,770, there were 1,886 males and 1,884 females. It is also noteworthy that approximately BZE$24 million dollars in new hotel developments or renovation of existing hotel infrastructure was made for 2004.

Cruise statistics for the period January - December 2004, have reached yet another milestone. The month of December recorded an unprecedented high of 103,690, representing an increase of 11.3 percent over the figure as for last year's corresponding month. The 2004 year's total illustrated a solid upsurge of just about 48 percent over that of 2003, as Belize welcomed a total of 851,436 visitors to her shores at year's end January to December 2004. This represents a total of 406 cruise ship calls to Belize in 2004.

"The fascination of Belize as a vacation destination continues to increase, and Belize is quickly becoming the favored destination," comments Tourism Director, Tracy Panton. "Marketing and Public Relations efforts continue by both the private and public sectors to add greater visibility to Belize. These increases also symbolize greater economic opportunities for local entrepreneurs, who are encouraged to become stakeholders and owners in this budding industry."

For more information on events taking place in Belize's tourism industry, please contact the Marketing Department at the Belize Tourism Board at 223-1913, via email: [email protected] or visit our website www.travelbelize.org
####

Lorraine Herrera
Marketing Officer
Marketing & Public Relations Dept.

Belize Tourism Board
Gaboural Lane
Central Bank Building Level 2
P.O. Box 325
Belize City, Belize C.A.

Tel: 501-223-1913
Fax: 501-223-1943
Toll Free Info: 1800-624-0686
Email:[email protected]
Website: www.travelbelize.org

Belize......Mother Nature's Best Kept Secret!!!!!!!!!


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