The Beginnings of Tourism In Belize

When Belize started experiencing a decline in agriculture (sugar, bananas) and manufacturing, Belize turned to tourism

• to earn much needed foreign exchange
• to generate new job opportunities
• to diversify its economy

Tourism activities in Belize date back to 1948.  We will look at two distinct periods, 1948 to the mid 1980s and the mid 1980s to 2003.

1948 to Mid-1980s
During these early years there was basically no organized tourism except for jungle and fishing tours and, for the most part, tourism was not seen as a viable industry for Belize. During this period Belize’s economy was based mainly around logging and fishing.

It wasn’t until the late 1950s when an American by the name of Vick Barothy opened a camp, now Belize River Lodge, on the Belize River, near the International Airport that the idea of making money from tourism came about. However, it would take another three decades before tourism got the attention that it needed for its growth and development.

During this same period, the rest of the Caribbean was being discovered as vacation spots. Many tourists began to visit the Caribbean in search of sun, sea, and beaches. These islands began to market their product. Unlike other Caribbean countries, tourist arrivals in Belize were only famous for its jaguar and crocodile skin. Tour guides like John, Little John, and Jackie Vasquez became famous in Belize for leading expeditions into the jungle to hunt jaguars and other wild animals.

It was also in the 1950s that Belize’s first major hotel opened its doors. The post World War II Labor Government of Britain invested some projects in Barton Ramie (Cayo District) and Stann Creek. The British lords who came to Belize to oversee the projects would not find suitable accommodations so they invested in the Fort George Hotel. In 1953, the Fort George opened its doors with 36 rooms. One year later on its anniversary, there were only two people in its dining room -- the manager and Emory King. The Fort George Hotel became the main hotel in Belize and catered to business people and tourists. Marketing was basically "word of mouth".

In the 1960s, the sleepy fishing village of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye woke up to tourism. This happened in 1966 when the Holiday Hotel opened up with four rooms. The big attraction at that time was local cuisine. The Holiday Hotel was and still is owned by Belize’s tourism pioneer, Ms. Celi McCorkle. Shortly after, in 1969 Paradise Hotel, owned by Mr. Jerry McDermott, opened its doors for business. It consisted of a main building with four bedrooms and the first thatched roof bar in Belize.

The main thrust in the development of tourism in Belize began to form slowly through the efforts and activities of these earlier hoteliers. During this time, the Belize Tourist Bureau, now the Belize Tourism Board, functioned mainly for the purpose of collecting taxes and conducting sporadic training programs. The 1970s saw the number of hotels increasing. Interest in activities around the world’s second largest Barrier Reef began to grow.

In 1972, Mr. Allan McNab became chairman of the Belize Tourism Board.  Two years later, in 1974, Rum Point owned by George and Carol Bevier, opened in Placencia.  That same year the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) held a formative meeting at the Fort George Hotel. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Jack Holden, president of CHA. Hotels represented at the meeting were: the Fort George Hotel, Pelican Beach and the Nu Lodge Inn. The idea of the first local tourism association was born and it was to be called the Belize Hotel Association. During this period the San Ignacio Hotel, owned by Mr. Escandar Bedran, was opened. Other hotels existing around this time were: Tony’s Inn and Hotel Maya in Corozal, Nuevo Mi Amor of Orange Walk, Chaa Creek Resort of Cayo, and Pelican Beach Resort of Dangriga.

As a follow-up to the visit of Jack Golden, president of CHA, an informal association was formed.  Members included: Celi McCorkle, Jean Shaw, Frances Fuller, and Paul Hunt. These unofficial meetings were usually held at Jean Shaw’s Mopan Hotel to discuss tourism related issues. 

The number of Tourism arrivals increased during this decade probably because foreign operations began working in Belize.  The operators included: Mau Pintor, Trav Cao, Four Winds, who came primarily to visit San Pedro, and Questers, who conducted bird watching tours.  Belize was becoming known as one of the top dive destinations in the world and the majority of tourists were visiting San Pedro.  As a matter of fact, Jacques Costeau came in his famous boat, the Calypso, and explored the Blue Hole.  Belize received significant publicity from Costeau’s visit and San Pedro saw an increase in the number of visitors to its shores, which led to a spill over of visitors to the mainland. 1975 saw the beginning of dive boats working in Belize. The first of these were Isla Mia, owned by Jonathan Trom and Reef Roamer owned by Ray Bowers.

In 1976 Paul Hunt wrote the first marketing article on Belize and was featured in "Robinsons of Orlando". The private sector and government covered the cost. The following year, Belize’s first national airline, the Belize Airways Limited (BAL) began operations.  The directors were: Alexander Hunter, Yasin Shoman, and Barry Bowen. In 1979 the private sector held a meeting with the Honorable Minister Guadalupe Pech to discuss tourism. Among the topics discussed was the idea of forming a hotel association.

Mid-1980s to 2002
In 1981, International Expeditions started working in Belize. A year later, a working committee for tourism was formed. The co-chairs for the committee were Escandar Bedran and Paul Hunt. In 1984, Air Florida took brochures of Belize to the World Fair. On April 26, 1985, the Belize Hotel’s Association expanded into a broad based association; hence the Belize Tourism Industry Association (BTIA) was formed. This new association would encompass all tourism related services to meet the challenges of the industry. The idea of this new association was the brain child of the late Mrs. Jean Shaw.

The 1990s were explosive years for tourism in Belize. In 1994, the Tour Guide Regulation was enacted and the first formalized tour guide training was developed. In 1996, the Belize Tourist Board was legislated and, on August 11th of the same year, American Airlines made its inaugural flight to Belize. The Hotels and Tourist Accommodation Act was implemented in 1997.

In 1998 Belize developed its first-ever national tourism strategy, The Blackstone Report, which established the context for tourism development within Belize.  That year also saw the launching of the Belize Tourism Board’s website (http://www.travelbelize.org and BTB's Retirement Program and website (http://www.belizeretirement.org). The Tour Operators Regulation was established and implemented and the Belize National Council (BNTC) became established as an advisory committee to the Minister of Tourism.

The period 2000 to 2003 has been eventful for the tourism industry. Some important milestones for tourism in Belize during this time included: the launching of American Airlines, Dallas-Belize-Dallas route; the featuring of Belize on prime time television in US in new marketing ads; the development of a Belize CD ROM presentation; the filming of "Temptation Island" in Belize and the showing of the seven Episode on Fox TV. These strategically placed Belize as a premier tourist destination. In its continuous quest to improve the tourism product, a 28 million dollar project was implemented for the upgrade of the Archaeological sites of Belize. Belize celebrated its first ever Tourism Awareness Week and National Tourism Awards. Other significant achievements in tourism during the year 2000 were the recognition of Belize’s Minister of Tourism as Travel Weekly’s Man of the Year for Central America and the establishment of BTB’s Team Belize Training Program.

In 2001, the tourism industry continued to make forward strides. Some of these included: BTB’s first ever Culinary Competition; the introduction of a Tourism Bachelor Degree program at the University of Belize; the signing of the Water Taxi Statutory Instrument; the publishing of a New National Tour Guide Training Program Manual for Trainees and Trainers; the opening of the Belize Tourism Village and the arrival of its first inaugural vessel, Carnival Spirit, on November 13, 2001 -- 48 ships visited during this time.

There were also some setbacks in 2001. These included: the bombing of the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, the suspension of all flights for a week due to the closure of all US airports, and Category 4 Hurricane Iris destroying parts of Southern Belize on October 8. Damages to the tourism industry were estimated at 73.8 million dollars.

In 2002, the tourism industry achieved many more milestones such as: the US Airways and Air Jamaica bringing inaugural flights to Belize, the inauguration of the New Western Border Facility, cruise ship arrivals increasing at a tremendous rate of 564.4% due to the arrival of 200 cruise ships, and the Belize Tourism Board receiving the Belize City Council Mayor’s Award.