Tourism Leaders Gather at B.O.O.M. Forum

The country’s tourism stakeholders converged at the Belize Civic Center today for the annual Building on Our Momentum (B.O.O.M.) Forum. The Belize Tourism Board-led event brought together industry leaders, tourism experts, and representatives from partner agencies to update stakeholders on the sector’s recent milestones and a launch pad for initiatives set to roll out. A part of today’s agenda saw the BTB present a comprehensive look at the trajectory of Belize’s tourism with discussions centered on sustainability, innovation, and market expansion. The forum sought to foster collaboration, engage in cutting-edge insights, and spark strategic planning with the plan to keep the momentum of an upward trajectory. The keynote address by was delivered by Seth Borko, Head of Research at Skift, a globally respected travel intelligence company. Borko spoke about the information shared with participants and the allure of Belize’s tourism product.

Seth Borko, Head of Research Skift: “One of the things we’re talking about is experiential tourism. What experiences mean is that increasingly we think experiences are at the top of the booking funnel. What does that mean? The booking funnel is this idea that consumers, they start, they look in for destinations. They say, first I want to go on vacation. Then they say, where can I go? And there’s this funnel. They slowly are narrowing down this funnel and they’re going from kind of high level thoughts to more specific consideration to actually making a purchase. Normally, what used to have is people would pick the destination first.  So you’d say, I want to go to Paris. Then you’d figure out, what do I want to do next? So you say, you start with Paris, and then as you get closer to booking, or even once you’ve booked, then you figure out the activities you’re going to do when you’re there.  What we think is happening is experiences are in the driver’s seat these days. So people don’t say necessarily, I want to go to Paris, or even necessarily, I want to go to Belize. What they say is, I want to go scuba diving. I want to go fishing. I want to go on an adventure. I want to see an interesting culture. I want to meet interesting people. That’s what starts the spark and then they figure out the destinations that can do it. I mean, you’ve seen, you know, anyone in Belize knows that Belize has these amazing adventure, culture, reefs, jungle. So what we think is happening, it’s not what do they want to do when they get to Belize? It’s that they want to do those adventures, those experiences, those connections with nature, to take a break from the world they want to do those experiences and they’re figuring out where in the world they can do those experiences and turns out Belize is a great destination for those experiences.”

The Zimmerman Agency, a BTB partner agency, was tasked with highlighting the latest trends and strategic developments shaping Belize’s tourism future.   Cole Zimmerman, Executive Vice President of the company, touched on how the industry is looking to capitalize on new travel trends. 

Cole Zimmerman, Executive VP Zimmerman Agency: “We’re really focused on the U.S. and what’s happening in the U.S. market right now with the political landscape and then how we’re going to overcome that. Some new things and some new exciting things for the year that Belize should be focused on is we’re launching a new campaign called  “Belize Grab Life Coach” which really focuses on the people of Belize as being the life coaches which is a really cool aspect to bring back to the community because it’s bringing not only the marketing efforts in the US, but bringing them home to Belize so people will be able to see it from both sides, which really blends in a full circle effect of our marketing efforts. We’ve got a new website that’s going to be launching this summer for Belize that’s intact with AI itinerary builders. It’s got AI as well in it for searches. So anything that you’re wanting to do or looking to do instead of going to a search platform, which if anybody really looks at it, search is gonna be going away by 2025. Everything will be a behavior based on AI. So you’re actually asking questions of, “hey, my family wants to go to a destination that offers cultural history, exploration, and excursions in a beach destination where they’re still familiar with the US.” Belize will be showing up with an entire itinerary built out for that person based on what their behaviors are from past behaviors and also the behaviors that they’re putting into their questions online. So that’s a really cool shift that we’re trying to make sure that we’re calling it Belizean Intelligence  because it’s making sure that we are in the lead for innovation. And I think along with a new website, the campaigns and then how we’re targeting the Americans to come to the destination is going to make sure that we’re successful for this year.”

The BOOM event saw participation from over two hundred stakeholders in the tourism sector.