Belize’s Tourism Arrivals Went Up in 2012

Kudos are in order for Belize’s tourism industry which reported a 10.7 percent increase in overnight arrivals. The figures for last year show that there 277,135 visitors, which is 26,872 more than in 2011.

Of these, 63.7 percent were from the United States while only 8.7 percent were from Canada. Overnight arrivals peaked at 32,240 visitors last March, with a second peak of 31,346 visitors in December.

Airport arrivals were up 16.3 percent with 211,747 tourists landing at the Philip Goldson International Airport. Airport arrivals also peaked at with 25,982 visitors in March, with a second peak of 23,312 visitors in December.

This was much better than several of our regional competitors, such as Cayman Islands, where arrivals were up a modest 4.1 percent; Antigua & Barbuda where arrivals increased only 2.3 percent; Barbados, where arrivals fell 5.5 percent, and Grenada where arrivals fell 5.1 percent.

The cruise lines scheduled fewer ship calls in 2012, so cruise arrivals to Belize fell 12 percent to 640,734 visitors, although arrivals at the beginning of the year were up 34.9 percent in comparison to January 2011.

Arrivals were also up 24.4 percent in February compared to 2011. There was also a summer peak of 9.6 percent in July. Belize’s cruise partners have assured the Belize Tourism Board that Belize can expect to see growth in 2013.

Cruise arrivals fell across in the Caribbean and Belize did not do so badly compared to some of our regional competitors, such as Grenada where cruise arrivals fell 21.7 percent, Barbados were cruise arrivals were down 15.2 percent; Antigua & Barbuda where arrivals fell 9.1 percent, and the Cayman Islands where arrivals fell 7.1 percent.