"The fear is that big-spending adventure travelers will no longer come
if Belize is too welcoming of mass tourism, particularly if it draws
more and more cruise ship visitors, who have gained a reputation here
as skinflints."
"Maria Otero, chief executive director of the Radisson Fort George
Hotel and Marina near the cruise ship village, said passengers
routinely stroll into her facility to use the bathroom and take a dip
in the pool, then complain about the cost of refreshments. She said
she had to draw the line at their bringing in their own booze and
snacks."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cruise13mar13,1,1041649.story?
coll=la-headlines-business
Buoyant Belize Cruise Trade May Sink Paradise
The fast-growing port is bringing boatloads of traffic that is
changing the tiny nation.
By Marla Dickerson, Times Staff Writer
March 13, 2006
BELIZE CITY, Belize — For years, tour organizer Lascelle Tillett has
been leading nature lovers to see rare Morelet's crocodiles, stately
Jabiru storks and other wonders in this tiny Caribbean nation.
So it came as something of a shock when he ferried a small party to a
spot near Belize's coral reef two years ago and encountered a floating
mob.
"There must have been 600 people in the water, and the boats were
lined up like cars," said Tillett, director of S&L Travel & Tours. "We
didn't see a single [sting] ray or shark."
Such aquatic traffic jams are becoming more frequent — and
contentious — in laid-back Belize since the arrival of a new species
of visitor: the cruise-ship passenger. The number of big boats
stopping here has increased nearly fivefold since 2000, making Belize
the fastest-growing tourist port in the Caribbean.
Last year, more than 800,000 cruise ship visitors disembarked in this
gritty seafront city, according to the local tourist board. That's
nearly triple the nation's population of 280,000.
The surge has been a boon to taxi drivers, hair braiders and other
bootstraps entrepreneurs who, like seagulls behind a tuna boat, flock
to the waterfront when passengers come ashore. Ship visitors poured an
estimated $65 million into the local economy in 2004. That's nearly
one-fifth of all tourist dollars spent in Belize, up from virtually
nothing five years ago.
Investors are taking aim at these sightseers, whose tight itineraries
leave them little more than half a day to see Belize. Entertainment is
proliferating, including air-boat rides, a casino and a crocodile
farm. Tour operators have purchased fleets of vans and buses that burn
rubber to the nearest Mayan ruins.
"When I see an opportunity, I grasp it," said David Gegg, who has
formed a tour company called Cruise Solutions Belize Ltd. "You have to
adapt."
But other longtime operators say the herd mentality is at odds with
Belize's carefully crafted niche as an eco-tourism paradise. Overnight
guests, many of whom spend weeks scuba diving, kayaking and exploring
the archeological sites of this nation the size of Massachusetts,
provide the lion's share of Belize's tourism revenue. Hoteliers say
those visitors want solitude and unspoiled wilderness, not hordes of
Disneyland-style day trippers swarming the pyramids and scaring the
wildlife.
The fear is that big-spending adventure travelers will no longer come
if Belize is too welcoming of mass tourism, particularly if it draws
more and more cruise ship visitors, who have gained a reputation here
as skinflints.
The average cruise passenger spends about $45 in Belize, less than
half the Caribbean average, according to the Belize Tourism Board.
Some experts say that's largely because Belize lacks modern docking
facilities that would allow passengers to spend more time ashore. At
present, ships must anchor offshore and "tender" passengers into
Belize City on smaller vessels, a costly and time-consuming process
for these floating cities of 3,000 to 4,000 people.
But some hoteliers say that many cruises are priced for bargain
hunters looking for freebies. Maria Otero, chief executive director of
the Radisson Fort George Hotel and Marina near the cruise ship
village, said passengers routinely stroll into her facility to use the
bathroom and take a dip in the pool, then complain about the cost of
refreshments. She said she had to draw the line at their bringing in
their own booze and snacks.
Others are worried about the environmental impact. Although cruise
travelers each pay a $7 visitor's tax, $1.40 of which is earmarked for
conservation, the nation's coral reefs and more heavily trafficked
wilderness areas are showing signs of wear and tear from the increased
visitation, said Anna Dominguez-Hoare, executive director of the
Belize Audubon Society.
"It's not compensating for the damage," she said of the tax. "And a
lot of damage could be irreversible so quickly."
Belize isn't the only place feeling the strain. Three of the
Caribbean's most popular ports, Cozumel, Mexico; the Cayman Islands
and St. Maarten, have seen cruise visitor counts surge more than 70%
over the last five years. Locals and overnight visitors around the
region complain of traffic snarls, jammed restaurants and booked-up
attractions when the ships blow into town.
The gridlock is likely to get worse. More and bigger ships are in the
pipeline, including some capable of carrying 6,000 passengers.
Experts point to a variety of factors driving the business, including
the ease and comfort of cruises for aging baby boomers and the fallout
from Sept. 11, which prompted cruise lines to put more vessels into
the region to mollify jittery Americans looking to stay closer to home.
Belize opened a cruise ship village with shops and better docking
facilities in 2002 to capitalize on the trend. Passenger traffic
skyrocketed that year, jumping 600%. Though such a torrid pace can't
and didn't continue, developers see plenty of room for growth — to
well above 1 million passengers. With that in mind, two groups are
working on plans to upgrade the docks.
The biggest stems from a partnership between Carnival Cruise Lines and
a local businessman to construct a $50-million terminal. The project,
however, has generated significant controversy here.
Signed by Belizean Prime Minister Said Musa and cloaked in secrecy,
the terminal contract was leaked to the media in late 2004. The
transaction generated a swift outcry from the tourism sector, which
accused federal officials of trying to evade existing policies aimed
at regulating the industry and limiting its growth.
The Belize Tourism Industry Assn. in November 2004 asked the Supreme
Court to review the contract, challenging the prime minister's right
to approve the deal without public consultation. That proceeding is
still tied up in court. But the association's demand for an injunction
on construction was denied, so the project has moved forward.
Slated to open in 2007, the cruise passenger terminal will feature
high-end shopping, restaurants and other mall-like diversions for a
largely middle-class clientele unaccustomed to the rough edges and
sparse amenities of Belize City, according to Luke Espat, the Belizean
developer. He said the goal was to make passengers feel comfortable,
give them more time ashore to spend money and lure them back for a
longer stay.
"This is 1850 California. It's a gold rush," Espat said. "If our
people aren't prepared to be a part of it, they will lose their stake
in the future."
Entrepreneurs such as Adelma Broaster agree. The 33-year-old mother of
two sells watercolor artwork, handmade dolls, cashew wine and other
products of local artisans at a stall in the cruise village. She said
she can take in $1,000 on a good day, a fourfold increase that she
credits to passengers.
"They're rude sometimes, but I don't mind," Broaster said. "The bottom
line is that I'm making money, and so is everyone else out here."
But others fear that Belize is killing its golden goose.
Tillett of S&L Travel, a bird lover who can identify many of the 600
native and migrating species he says can be found in Belize, shakes
his head at the memory of hundreds of snorkeling cruise tourists
standing on the coral and frightening the fish.
"We are destroying the very things that people are coming to see,"
Tillett said. "Money and greed are powerful forces."
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