Greetings

The month of December is one of celebration and sharing as we heralded in the Christmas Season and sent out best wishes for the coming year.

Belize and the tourism industry experienced many changes in 2008 with the heralding of a new government and leadership.

The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation is headed by Hon. Manuel Heredia, Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Michael Singh and Chairman of the Board of the BTB, Mr. Gaspar 'Gach' Guerrero. They, along with a new Board of Directors have been reviewing existing and guiding new strategies geared at enhancing the tourism product to benefit visitors, investors and Belizeans alike.

The implementation of energized tourism plans and philosophy can best be accomplished with a capable and technical staff. In this regard, the in-house team at the BTB welcomed a new Director of Product Development, Ms. Laura Esquivel, whose responsibilities include the development of programs such as training opportunities which reached approximately 200 hundred personnel in 2008.

A proud accomplishment was the 13.3 million USD grant received from the Inter-American Development Bank for the development of a Belize Tourism Master Plan and the restoration and improvement of facilities in four highly-sought tourism destinations throughout the country. The BTB is the executing agency for this program which will include:

• The Cayo District including the Cahal Pech area, the municipal airstrip and downtown San Ignacio
• San Pedro, Ambergris Caye including beach extensions on the lagoon side and a football field
• The Placencia Peninsula in the Stann Creek District including expansion of the existing sidewalk and a new dock and shopping center.
• Belize City will also have a new facelift to include a waterfront development strategy for the area from Fort Street and North Front Street to Albert and Regent Street.

Much was also accomplished in the development and upgrade of the tourism product locally, including the paving of the Placencia road, working closely with the police and other officials to ensure and improve visitor safety and, strengthening of relationships with stakeholders through numerous destination visits and meetings.

Joint public private sector partnerships are critical to the tourism industry's success and we were pleased to welcome the new President of the Belize Tourism Industry Association (BTIA), Mrs. Dionne Chamberlain and new Board members at both the BTIA and the Belize Hotel Association.

In August of 2008 we welcomed bvk to our family as the Belize Tourism Board's advertising and public relations firm in the United States. The efforts of bvk have already been evident with new magazine ads, editorial coverage and the "Be One with Belize" marketing focus.

While some time has been dedicated to establishing and strengthening new working relationships and evaluating our efforts, the work of the tourism industry and the activities at the BTB have continued at an intense pace. We remain acutely aware of the importance of ensuring that Belize's tourism presence is felt and growing in the larger established markets like the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom while at the same time venturing into untapped markets in Central and South America and Europe. The 2008 joint efforts of the public and private sector in pooling financial and human resources will bear fruit in 2009.

As we face the challenges of tightening budgets worldwide, please be reminded that our industry has achieved the successes it has, because together we have brainstormed, discussed, disagreed, revised and finally, implemented our plan for development. We look forward to a renewal of that process in 2009.

We encourage you to keep us current with what is happening in your business and in your destinations and know that you are always welcome to contact the BTB via the contact form on BTB's online office at Belizetourism.org; email, telephone or visit us in person at our offices at # 64 Regent St. in Belize City.

With best wishes for 2009,
Tracy Panton
Director of Tourism