Tourism stakeholders nudge Cabinet to again reject Norwegian in the south

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.”