The Tourism Industry Has Rebounded

The tourism industry of Belize has rebounded, almost reaching the level it was in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Several businesses, especially in the hospitality industry were severely impacted by the onset of this pandemic as local and international tourism was put on pause. But, CEO of the Ministry of Tourism, Nicole Solano, says that the industry has been able to regain the economic losses it experienced, especially during the height of the pandemic in 2020. CEO Solano adds that now they want stakeholders to elevate their level of service and continue improving over the years.

Nicole Solano, CEO, Ministry of Tourism and Diaspora Relations: “We’re very excited to report that we have in 2022 approximately 85% recovery versus 2019 so far. We expect that 2023 will be an even better year. We see travel returning and we see the rebound so for us we’re not longer necessarily in that tourism recovery mode we feel like we’re at the point where we have rebounded but we have to look at where we’re going now over the next five to ten year period how are we going to elevate tourism ? How are we going to look at what it is that’s needed so that we can take our service to the next level because our tourism service is really what the hospitality and that’s why people come they want service excellence so how can we prepare our tourism service providers to take the level to the next level.”