BTB's New Value Proposition

Dear Belize Tourism stakeholders,

I am excited and enthusiastic about officially joining the Belize tourism partnership in the position of Director of Tourism at the end of March 2010. Over the course of the next few months I look forward to meeting you, and to working with you to ensure that our plans at the Belize Tourism Board are in tandem with the needs of the industry and the goal of ensuring that Belize's very viable tourism industry is working towards a sustainable future built on the dedication and commitment of the many who have worked in this industry for decades.

Our industry has been built upon the wealth of our natural resources and commitment to sharing these resources in an atmosphere of friendliness, authenticity and value to our visitors. In the coming weeks and months it is my intention to work with you to ensure that Belize is clearly in a leadership position in destination stewardship

Our industry is at a crossroads where we have been experiencing the impacts from a global economic downturn, a fiercely competitive global market place, the effects from climate change and, issues of security which have contributed to shrinking revenue and the very real national and individual concerns which this causes.

We will do so by recalibrating Belize's branding and marketing efforts and embracing new media to embed our core message that Belize is Mother Nature's Best Kept Secret where visitors can be assured of the authenticity of our tourism product offering when they choose to Be One with Belize.

In the face of the global economic climate and intense destination competitiveness, we have to redouble our efforts using results-oriented planning, transparency and accountability and, strengthened partnerships with key stakeholder groups both locally and internationally.

We intend to work with you to:

• Launch new campaigns for increasing repeat visitation
• Convert cruise ship visitors to overnight visitors
• Penetrate the Canadian, European and emerging markets in Latin America
• Develop and enhance strategic relationships with airlines

Our promise of quality will come by:

• Establishing and elevating operating standards for all sub–sectors
• Offering continuous training and capacity-building for adoption of standards
• Increasing training opportunities for front-line service personnel, including customs, immigration, police officers
• Enhancing awareness of the importance of tourism among primary and secondary school students and the community at large

These will only be possible if we also improve our revenue collection processes, strengthen our human resource capacity and facilitate an enabling environment for stakeholders at all levels – including general public, frontline personnel in public and private sector to the investor, trade and media partners.

I invite to visit the following link for more details on the BTB's New Value Proposition for tourism and, look forward to enhancing and improving our communication and partnership with you.

With very best regards,
Seleni Matus
Director of Tourism