For Immediate Release

BTIA EXPRESSES REGRET OVER CURRENT NEGATIVE CAMPAIGN AGAINST SECTOR IN CRUISE TOURISM
December 4, 2009…. Belize’s tourism industry has been surveying over the past years a balance between its two main sectors – overnight and cruise. It has been accepted that clearly while overnight tourism is responsible for a great majority of the foreign exchange tourism earned revenues, the cruise sector is here and has matured to a high level representing millions of dollars in investment – local and foreign – while adding to our tourism mix an aspect of the overall industry that benefits many – small, medium and large enterprises. With this in mind and accepting that our cruise tourism while still in need of much regulating and structure is here to stay and represents a viable component of our product, BTIA expresses regret in the negative direction displayed in a recent publicity campaign.

While we admit that dialogue and difference in developmental direction is clearly a part of the process, we believe that there are constructive ways to express any diverging directions or views. BTIA firmly believes that any negative campaign that can result in irreparable damage to our tourism image – cruise or overnight – is not a campaign that is meeting any of its worthy objectives. At all times, our advocacy campaigns must be geared at first doing no harm to the hard work, investment and success of our valuable industry, but have at its heart a true intent to dialogue and survey solutions to any challenge facing our sector.

We call on the parties involved to re-think their strategy and advocacy tactics. Instead, we encourage that an open, transparent mature dialogue is a more positive approach for moving forward. BTIA offers its conference room and assistance to mediate any dialogue deemed necessary in this process. We encourage vibrancy in our industry, assertiveness but only for the good and continued development of our tourism industry and economy. The valuable investment and attention placed on Belize by any international cruise line is well received in Belize as a clear contributor to our continued development, provision of jobs and earnings of foreign exchange. In tourism like any other business healthy competition should be the mode of operations.

We thank all our partners and members involved in the industry and along with the players in the cruise sector, Belize National Tour Operators Association, representatives of international cruise lines affected by the recent campaign, we offer the BTIA forum as a means of healthy dialogue and avenue to resolve any differences in a constructive manner.

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