Southern Belize Needs Your Help!

[Ralph Capeling]

I have an open mind on this at present, as when I was in Placencia recently I met "old timer" tourism professionals who were in favour of small cruise ships, properly managed.

In fact there is a small cruise ship (100 people) that comes to Placencia from time to time. The people from the cruise ship do some snorkeling or wander around in the village. People here are not objecting to that and it has minimal impact as the people from that cruise ship. The objection is to mass tourism cruise ships.
Regards
Ralph

 

[Ralph Capeling]

AMANDALA NEWSPAPER DOES A GOOD SUMMARY
[h=1]BATTLE FOR POINT PLACENCIA[/h]
General— 05 July 2013— by Adele Ramos


[h=3]Tourism stakeholders nudge Cabinet to again reject Norwegian in the south[/h]Prime Minister Dean Barrow confirmed to Amandala today that Cabinet does have on next week’s agenda the multi-million-dollar proposal from Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) to set up a new cruise port in Southern Belize – this time, with a proposal much closer to Placencia, a premier tourism destination, than the initial Crawl Caye proposal which Cabinet rejected last month over environmental concerns.“It is understood that NCL is proposing to develop a cruise port on Harvest Caye, approximately three (3) miles south of Placencia Village, to facilitate ships in the range of 3000-4000 passengers. This specific proposal was put to a vote and members unanimously voted against the proposed cruise development,” said a statement from the Placencia Tour Guide Association.Nicole Auil-Gomez, Executive Director of SEA Belize (Southern Environmental Association) wrote Prime Minister Barrow a few weeks ago saying that, “…since the rejection of [the] Crawl Caye proposal, we have received information that the same large-scale cruise terminal is now being considered for Harvest Caye, just south of the Placencia Lagoon. While there may be a minority of beneficiaries to such a deal, the larger interests of the South would be seriously jeopardized by such a project.”Barrow told us today that ministers will hear from the Investment Subcommittee headed by Minister of Labour, Local Government, Rural Development and National Emergency Management and Immigration and Nationality Godwin Hulse, and while a discussion on the project is planned for Tuesday, to see where things are and what the technical people are saying, “we are a long, long way from any approval and I am not certain if we will get anywhere close,” he added.He said that it is already clear that if the Government gets to the public consultation stage, “if [they] even get that far,” they expect to be met with fierce opposition.Chair of the Placencia Village Council, Ilsa Villanueva, told our newspaper that the Council stands in solidarity with the Placencia Tour Guide Association.The Association’s president, Warren Garbutt, explained to Amandala that they had a meeting a couple weeks ago, at which a resolution was passed. That position is simple: we unanimously do not accept that proposal, for different reasons, Garbutt added.In their statement, the association said: “Among the reasons shared was the fact that such development would have harmful effects on the endangered West Indian Manatee. The area of the proposed development is one of the premier manatee feeding habitats along the entire southern coast of Belize and is used widely for manatee watching tours by local tour operators.”They also expressed the “fear that foreign and big tour operators would come in and benefit more than local operators, as they can be more competitive by offering cheaper rates to the cruise lines.”Garbutt points to the current conflict between some Belize City tour guides and the foreign company, Chukka, operating in Belize. He said that Placencia guides don’t want to be faced with that sort of situation where they are forced to work for less money.Meanwhile, Stewart Krohn, chairman of the Placencia arm of the Belize Tourism Industry Association (PBTIA), told us that their association also passed a very strongly worded resolution reflecting the unanimous position of the board, which, he said, furthermore reflects the general sentiments of their membership.In their statement, PBTIA said: “the development of a large cruise port in the south inexorably commits the area to an economic future based on mass cruise tourism. This type of mass tourism is 180 degrees opposite from the path of low impact overnight tourism that has brought the Placencia Peninsula so much success and promises to provide even greater opportunities in the future.”Krohn told us that the project, if accepted, would vastly affect how they market Belize.“To put mass cruise tourism in the South is to really give the whole country to the cruise lines,” said Krohn.He said that BTIA’s emphasis is on the tourism industry angle. According to Krohn, a simple cost-benefit analysis would show that the costs are far too high, with a small nucleus of people benefiting. He said that it makes no sense to spread cruise tourism to the rest of the country—that Government should instead keep it in Belize City.However, Colin Murphy, NCL’s Vice President, Destination & Strategic Development, told Amandala, when he visited Belize last month to further explore the US$50 million project, that “…the 30% of the passengers who come off the ship have a great time, but the other 70% don’t have a good time.” He said that the proposal is really an NCL solution for Norwegian passengers.“We think that if we can develop a destination that is Belizean, where the workers and the people that they meet are Belizean, and where the atmosphere and the vibe and the culture is Belizean, in a high quality, international standard, destination, we think we will do much better – and introducing them to a part of the country – in a sensitive way – that is gorgeous!” he told our newspaper.Minister Hulse had indicated to us that the NCL project would have to meet five specific parameters which cover the gamut of concerns there could be about the proposed development: (1) Any investment must be socially and economically viable and acceptable, and legally doable; (2) it must bring some revenue to Government; (3) it must also bring meaningful jobs to the country, not basic minimum wage jobs, but jobs for persons such as accountants and managers; (4) it must bring in foreign exchange; and (5) it must maintain the environment—but preferably enhance it.The Toledo chapter of the BTIA argues, though, that “Development invariably comes at a cost, and Toledo is not prepared to pay the price associated with the mainstream cruise industry. Our sites have limited capacity and our infrastructure, in general, is completely unequipped to deal with the volume of visitors that cruise ships would bring. Our way of life and traditional values would be threatened.”Krohn said that Belize’s major attractions—which include the Barrier Reef, the Blue Hole, the Maya sites, and sports fishing—are genuinely world-class attractions, and no place in the world has as many assets in one place.“Why sell so cheaply to the lowest end of mass tourism?” said Krohn, arguing that expanding cruise tourism to the South would mean that Belize would have to market itself at a lower price.Whereas the Crawl Caye location was 11.2 miles away from Placencia, Harvest Caye is 3 miles SSW of Placencia—very close to the mainland—and that makes people more nervous because the cruise port would be right in their backyard, Krohn indicated.Barrow said that his administration will continue to review the proposals on a step-by-step basis, as balance clearly needs to be struck. He said that all the arguments would have to be heard and concerns resolved, dependent on the particular facts.Whereas today’s debate is over Harvest Caye, the PTGA also conveyed deep concerns with the way the tourism pie is currently being shared in the South; that is, “the fact that some big resorts on the peninsula have been operating as all-inclusive resorts, therefore taking away potential income from local businesses. Locally owned businesses, such as some tour operators, taxi services, restaurants, gift shops among others, have been affected directly, because all these services are now being provided by resorts.”

 

[Edward3c]

... Whereas today’s debate is over Harvest Caye, the PTGA also conveyed deep concerns with the way the tourism pie is currently being shared in the South; that is, “the fact that some big resorts on the peninsula have been operating as all-inclusive resorts, therefore taking away potential income from local businesses. Locally owned businesses, such as some tour operators, taxi services, restaurants, gift shops among others, have been affected directly, because all these services are now being provided by resorts.”

Not that I agree with it, but we now have major tour operators (i.e. First Choice - The Home of All Inclusive) in the UK only offering 'All-inclusive' holidays. It appears this is what the market wants as their doing better than the just fly-hotel type holidays.

For me one of the reasons for visiting an area is to meet local people, and eating in local restaurants is a good way to chill out.

 

[Ralph Capeling]

Apparently there was a recent meeting of village councils and the member of parliament for this area. Upon hearing about this, the Placencia Tour Operatos Association then did the following release. Scuba Diving Operators are members of the Placenica Tour Operators Association.

16 July 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Placencia Tour Operators Association strongly opposes mass cruise ship tourism for southern Belize in general, and specifically, Norwegian Cruise Line’s proposed port at Harvest Caye.

Placencia Peninsula tour operators object to mass cruise ship tourism in southern Belize primarily for the following reasons:

· Mass cruise ship tourism is contrary to the national tourism policies for southern Belize as expressed in Belize’s duly adopted and Cabinet endorsed National Sustainable Tourism Master Plan;
· Mass cruise ship tourism will have a detrimental effect on the South’s traditional low-impact overnight tourism, with known economic benefits from overnight tourism greatly outweighing possible economic benefits from cruise tourism;
· Mass cruise ship tourism will cause significant degradation of fragile marine and inland environments such as coral reefs and fish and bird habitats;

 

[chillyinCanada]

Ralph, does anyone know the content and results of the meeting?

 

[Ralph Capeling]

Ralph, does anyone know the content and results of the meeting?

Some people must know, but I am not one of them.
Regards
Ralph

 

[Downing]

Ralph, does BITA have a position on the international airport that's currently still on hold at the top of the peninsula? Just curious.

 

[Ralph Capeling]

Ralph, does BITA have a position on the international airport that's currently still on hold at the top of the peninsula? Just curious.

I have not heard BTIA taking any position on the international airport at the north end of the peninsula - but as that would bring in a few hundred people and they will be overnight visitors which are welcome. I think BTIA and the community support that.
It is mass tourism with a few thousand people arriving at one time and overpowering the capacity of the attractions in this area and effectively displacing overnight tourists. For example, local tour operators do not take customers to the places that the cruise ships visit except of days when there are no cruise ships.
Regards
Ralph
Ralph

---------- Post added July 23rd, 2013 at 09:04 AM ----------

From Channel 7 News In Belize

Norwegian MOU Surfaces, Causes Cruise Consternation
posted (July 22, 2013)

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Concern is mounting on the Placencia Peninsula over the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding that’s being tabled by a Cruise Developer called Belize Island Holding Limited, which is the local incarnation of Norwegian Cruise Line. They want to build a cruise port on Harvest Caye, south of the Peninsula Peninsula, after the proposal for Crawl Caye fell through.In the agreement, Norwegian agrees to invest $50Million US dollars and employ no more than 25% foreign staff. In exchange Government will make the usual giveaways, a 25-year concession, duty exemptions and duty free status, even business tax exemptions.
But the best part for Norwegian is, under the terms of the MOU, they get to keep more than half of the 7 US dollar head tax they collect. The BTB would get one dollar sixty cents US, PACT one dollar and forty cents US and Norwegian would get the rest, 4 USD per person.
But out of PACT and BTB’s minority take, they would have to apportion - in the BTB’s case - 50 cents per person to a tourism development fund, to be used on southern Belize – thus developing product for the Port owners.
And out of PACT’s share, 25 cents US would go to environmental monitoring – which, is not a function of PACT and, opponents argue, is a cost that should be borne by the Port owner, not paid from the head tax.
And that 1.15 cents US PACT stays with is a pittance really, considering that a.) The PACT tax paid by overnight visitors is 3.75 cents US per person and, the Minister recently said in a speech that it would take 20 million US dollars annually to optimally manage Belize’s protected areas.
But, as odious as that whole had tax breakdown may seem – we note that it resembles the formula presently in place at Fort Street Tourism Village Cruise Port. That agreement was negotiated well over a decade ago – an indication that, even with the benefit of experience, there’s no better deal for Belize, which, veterans have advised us, is more or less the permanent state of affairs between small countries and large cruise lines.
As we understand it, the eight page MOU was crafted out of a set of agreed-upon points between the cruise line and government officials – and the document is now at the Sol Gen’s office for vetting. Our information says that Cabinet has approved the terms and conditions, and on Friday Minister of Environment Lisel Alamilla was non – comital about it. Here’s what she told us -
Hon. Lisel Alamilla - Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries, Environment

"Yes these projects had been discussed at Cabinet."
Jules Vasquez
"Are we within distance of signing an MOU? There's talk of one circulating."
Hon. Lisel Alamilla
"Jules, as I said earlier when you weren't here was that I will leave the ministry responsible for investment to respond to the question regarding how they're dealing with the investment interest from NCL, from Mr. Finstein and from Puerto Azul."
Jules Vasquez
"Have you given any technical advice on new proposed location?"
Hon. Lisel Alamilla
"We have given - we haven't given a lot yet on Harvest Cay because we still have to do a site visit there. We have raised initial questions as to that project but at this point we are at - 'is Belize interested in this project?' - then we will get into the details of how the environment comes into it."
Today Godwin Hulse, Minister in Charge of the Cabinet Committee on investment did not answer our text messages requesting a comment. As to whether the MOU has been signed, Prime Minister Dean Barrow did text us back: he said he does not know, and referred us to Minister Hulse. Since the MOU calls for the PM’s signature, we’ll assume it has not been signed.
And so, now public pressure resisting the project is expected to come hard and heavy from overnight tourism interests on the Placencia Peninsula. Their consistent lobby has been that mass cruise tourism will have a disastrous effect on overnight tourism in Placencia. Moreover, they say it is expressly out of line with the Tourism Master Plan and a recent study which was done investigating the subject.
But, there’s a plurality of opinion. One Resort Manager we heard from on a BTB sponsored media tour of the south this weekend runs Laru Beya Resort and Villas. He took a much broader view.
Rene Nunez - Manager, Laru Beya

"We seem to have decided that we are a small destination - that we will not build huge properties/hotels in Belize. We will go after the adventurous visitor - the visitor who wants an out of the way experience - that seems to be what we started with. I think what we're facing now is the pressures of growth, that Belize is now well known. Here in Placencia - if you've read any of the letters that the BTIA or the tour operators or anybody has sent - the one line they always include in that letter is that it is 'contrary to our agreed upon plan'; the plan for the Tourism development in Southern Belize and that plan focused on small tourism. I am not prepared to say that I don't want cruise tourism here; I certainly think that if the cruise ship comes to Placencia - our business will have to change. Right now we are protecting turf, those of us in the business know what we're doing right now and so we are very convinced that cruise tourism is going to affect our business negatively, so we don't want it. But we're a country that's growing and maybe we need to think about that."
We haven’t done a poll, but from a sampling of overnight interests and the hard of fast position of the Placencia BTIA we’d say Nunez holds the minority opinion, among overnight tourism interests.
It’s a story that has legs, as they say, and we’ll keep following it.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I was just going to post that, Ralph.

 

[flots am]

There was a study done a few years ago by a French University that looked at the impact of cruise tourism on overnight tourism in the Caribbean. The conclusion was that in almost every case, the country lost more revenue from overnight tourism than they gained from cruise tourism.

The people who cruise are not the same people who stay overnight. More of one doesn't mean less of the other.

Whether or not Belize wants cruise ships is a different story, but I don't think you can justify keeping them out based on economic needs.

Also, the cruise tourists are very happy to leave a lot of cash behind after their day trip, if you can put together cool excursions. River rafting, for example, can easily bring in $50/head, and there's an operator on Dominica, for example, that regularly runs 50+ tourists down the river several times/day. That's quite a bit of cash that would not otherwise appear.

flots.