Minister Heredia says fluctuations in tourism will not affect overall arrivals for 2019

The report on tourism arrivals for the first half of 2019 showed an overall increase, compared to the same period in 2018, but the following months showed numbers fluctuating. Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation Honourable Manuel Heredia believes this should not affect the overall arrival numbers at the end of the year. He indicated that 2019 will close with an increase in tourism compared to 2018.
According to Heredia, although there were some ups and downs, Belize’s overnight arrivals continue to experience an increase. He noted that the fluctuations are triggered by global trends and that if there is to be a decrease in the future, it could be in the cruise industry. Heredia explained that this is due to a shortage in vessels for Belize. “Some of the ships might be doing other routes,” he said. “But so far this year, we have maintained the required margin for growth in tourism.” He is confident that after such ships are back in the routes leading to Belize, cruise passenger numbers will be back up.
For the first half of 2019, there was an overall 6% increase in overnight tourism, and cruise arrivals for the first six months recorded an overall 10.8% increase over the same period last year. The only months that showed a decrease was May with a 1.3% decrease and June falling by 25.6% over the same period in 2018.