Belize’s tourism continues to grow, and today, Wednesday, July 7th, the country welcomed the first cruise ship with passengers in Belize City. It has been well over a year since cruise tourism came to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The arrival of the Carnival Cruise Line vessel called the Carnival Vista brought life to the Fort Street Tourism Village after being dormant for months.
Representatives of the Belize Tourism Board (BTB) were present at the tourism village, which ignited with commercial and cultural activities. There was the unmistakable drumming of Garifuna music while passengers were tendered to the city for tours to different mainland areas. Tour operators and vendors working at the tourism village welcomed the reopening of cruise tourism. This is the opportunity they had been waiting for to recover from the pandemic.
According to the Director of Cruise Tourism at BTB Noriko Gamero, they need to make sure everything at the tourism village is done safely. She explained that the same gold standard protocols for the reopening of the Philip Goldson International Airport have also been implemented. This is to ensure the quality of service and the safety of employees and visitors.
To further ensure the health safety of everyone, the Fort Street Tourism Village personnel inside its gates are vaccinated. It was also reported that the crew from the cruise ship are fully vaccinated.
More cruise ships are scheduled to make calls in Belize for the rest of the week. Some of these include Celebrity Edge and the Royal Caribbean Freedom.
