Tourism Minister Anthony Mahler Predicts Record Arrivals for Belize in 2026

Tourism Minister Anthony Mahler says Belize is poised for record-breaking tourist arrivals in 2026, despite experiencing fluctuating visitor numbers throughout 2025.  Speaking on the performance of the tourism sector, Mahler acknowledged that arrivals last year showed periods of growth as well as slowdown, influenced by external market conditions and shifting travel trends. However, he said the start of 2026 has been encouraging, with projections pointing toward a strong and potentially historic year for Belize’s tourism industry.

Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism: “Last year was a roller coaster year in terms of consistency with growth, right? So one month you have high growth, next month you have a drop off. And so but we ended the year very strong in December where we saw the highest numbers of people ever coming into Belize for a December. It was close to 62,000. And so those are strong numbers. And we ended off last year by just about one, one point something percent over 2024 which was a record breaking year, which had exponential growth over 2023. We saw almost 80,000 / 90,000 more if memory serves me right. So there has been consistent growth, but that has been fueled by airlift, new rooms coming on stock. We believe when new resorts like Four Seasons and Sixth Sense and the Sheraton here in Belize City that will continue to add capacity in terms of the product and the hotel plant and we will continue to see this sustained growth. Now we’re trending right now for January we’re trending close to another record breaking month in terms of January. So if it continues, especially we have two more Saturdays where that’s the big bulk of people coming in we’re averaging somewhere about 3,200 per Saturday, which is strong. If we hold that way, we’ll end up somewhere around 60 or 61, maybe even 62,000 depending on the latter part of January.”

Mahler attributed the positive outlook to continued upgrades in tourism amenities and attractions, noting that investments in infrastructure, product development, and visitor experiences are helping to strengthen Belize’s appeal as a destination. He said these improvements position the country to attract higher visitor volumes while also encouraging repeat travel.  Turning to cruise tourism, the minister said while Belize continues to benefit from strong cruise ship arrivals, there is room for improvement, particularly in protecting the environment and ensuring better conduct among vendors who interact with cruise passengers.

Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism: “It’s strong. Going back to a million is okay for me. But they have to have a better experience outside I don’t care how you talk to them guys, doesn’t matter how you train them, the experience I’ve seen, I’ve seen videos of all kinds of things happening outside, fight, guns pulled, they want to be frank, they want to go on the media they could pick up the phone at any time and talk to me. In fact we try to help them as much as possible just going into the high season whereby we buy new tires for them, we try to help them if they need a uniform whatever. But it has to be an open dialogue. People will not come out and spend money where they feel unsafe and that, if you drive through there, there’s a lot to be desired, but we don’t control any of those things because that is the street, right? We control if you’re a tour guide, we control if you’re a tour operator.” 

Mahler also reiterated the country’s ongoing need for a dedicated cruise berthing facility, saying such infrastructure would allow Belize to better manage cruise arrivals, enhance visitor experiences, and reduce environmental impacts. He stressed that continued development, alongside responsible tourism practices, will be key to sustaining growth across both overnight and cruise tourism sectors.