Ministry of Tourism to Increase Airlift Connections as Travel Trends Shift

The Ministry of Tourism has been making significant progress in increasing the arrival of air carriers to the country.  Jus today, the ministry conducted the Belize Airlift Development Conference in Belize City. The event convened regional and international airline partners along with representatives from Belize’s tourism and aviation sector. The discussions surrounded expanding connectivity and exploring opportunities to strengthen Belize’s position as an accessible travel destination. The event also saw the participants delve into a report on Belize’s airlift landscape whilst engaging in meaningful conversations with representatives from various airlines. This event comes on the heel of Minister Anthony Mahler speaking to Love News on his ministry’s efforts to increase air connectivity and capitalizing on the shift in travel trends. 

Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism: “We’re looking at new strategies for Mexico.  Actually, we have an agreement on the table right now for one of the Mexican carriers to come back to Belize and we’re looking more at Canada. We have flights to Canada. We’re trying to build new air routes out of Canada. And then Latin America, especially Brazil, Argentina, Chile and other countries, we want to focus on the Latin American market as well. The US market, which is the biggest bulk of our tourists who come here, is still a strong market for us. We haven’t seen any major fall off as yet but we expect if there is a recession, people losing the worth in their 401ks and all of that is happening currently, then we should see a softening from the US market.”

Interesting to note is that Minister Mahler was recently tasked with drafting necessary legislative and policy reforms to enhance the country’s Nautical Tourism Sector. It is a sector that looks at accommodating tourists coming in via the seas on private yachts or public vessels.  While the sector is currently functioning, the drafting of the legislation would add to seamless arrival and entry for visitors.