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Belize Participates in the third Central America Travel Market in Costa Rica

Belize City, Thursday, October 22nd, 2007 – Belize joined the rest of Central America in the region’s official tourism trade show, which took place in San José, Costa Rica, October 11th – October 13th, 2007.  

Central America Travel Market is a professional summit where suppliers had the opportunity to build profitable relations with wholesalers of the major outbound markets, especially those in Europe (Spain, Italy, Germany, France, United Kingdom and the Netherlands); Asia (Japan, Korea and Taiwan) and Latin America (México, Chile, Argentina and Brazil), through pre-established meetings.  The Central America Travel Market is a product of SICA and the governments of the region.  It is an integrated approach to develop tourism business activity in the region and strengthening the European target market.
The objectives of Central America Travel Market were to contribute to the positioning of the region as a highly competitive tourist multi-destination, to consolidate commercial relations among the participants, to establish agreements with potential wholesalers and to launch new products and destinations in the region.  Additionally, the show included cultural displays and performances from the region, as well as an educational slide presentations and seminars.
The Belize Tourism Board met with over 30 tour operators and wholesalers from Europe, the USA and Canada who had great interest in learning of the new developments in Belize.  Most of the wholesalers and tour operators were selling other destinations within the region and were looking to include Belize in their itineraries but had requests for more information on the destination.  The BTB also had an opportunity to meet with tour operators who were selling Belize for over ten years and commented that they will continue to sell the destination as the interest is present.  

“This fair has aided in placing Central America as a popular tourism destination offering a multitude of tourism experiences,â€? comments Tourism Director, Tracy Panton.  “This joint promotional effort was an excellent opportunity to display to international buyers an extensive diversity of Belizean culture and adventure, as well as attracting new European wholesalers selling the region and wishing to expand their product offerings.  The European market for Belize continues to show strong potential,â€? Panton noted.

Currently, the countries of Belize, Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, work closely with the Central American Tourism Agency (CATA) to promote the region in Europe.    CATA functions as a tourism promotion organization that focuses mainly in attracting the greatest number of tourist and the most foreign investment possible, in order to benefit regional economic growth through competitive promotion in major European and Asian markets.  

In addition to the show, CATA offered all Central American countries an opportunity to send a member of the local press to attend and cover the show through their respective local media houses.  Representing Belize was Mr. Admir Cantun of Love FM.  

The Belize delegation included representatives from the Belize Tourism Board, The Lodge at Chaa Creek, Victoria House, BTIA – Placencia Chapter, Radisson Fort George Hotel & Marina and the Inn at Robert’s Grove.

For more information on the developments and events in Belize’s tourism industry, please contact the Marketing Department at the Belize Tourism Board at (501)-227-2420, via e-mail: info@travelbelize.org or visit us at our website www.belizetourism.org.