The government-controlled and financed Belize Tourism Board – travelbelize.org – has come under fire for yet another misstep, attempting to suppress the independent cruise ship report it commissioned at tax payers expense. The Seatone Report gives a big thumbs down to the further development of cruise tourism in Belize – especially in the south of the country. In a letter published in the Belize press this week, the BTB stands accused of delaying the publication of a report it commissioned: [Read more...]

Belize Real Estate Developer Stewart Krohn

A former Belize TV mogul turned hotel owner has published an open letter to cruise lines, especially Carnival Cruise Lines, and Royal Caribbean, which is intent on establishing a beachhead in southern Belize. Stewart Krohn is a U.S. national expatriated from his homeland and currently running a lodge in the Placencia Peninsula in southern Belize. A “G” rated version of his letter follows:

“Having been involved for many months now in the campaign to keep cruise ships away from Placencia I can only look at the situation involving cruise tendering in Belize City with a mixture of amusement.

“I say amusement because the favorite mantra of those few people in Placencia not opposed to cruise ships has been “don’t worry, we can control them”. If it was not obvious then, it certainly is now. If the Prime Minister and Government of Belize cannot control them the Placencia Village Council does not stand much of a chance.

“Let us hope that the issue of cruise ships in the South is now laid to rest. “When I see what is happening in Belize City, I get the feeling that I am watching a mishap unfolding before me in slow motion. All I can do is hope I’m having a nightmare and will soon wake up.

“Let us understand something: the villain in this drama is the cruise lines. They have made an unreasonable set of demands on a group of people who have served them reasonably well over the last decade and a half. The reasons they have given for requiring larger tenders do not make a whole lot of sense, and seem to be inspired less by efficiency and safety than by the cruise lines’ innate nature to squeeze every penny and totally control all aspects of their operations. [Read more...]