BELIZE CITY, Mon. Apr. 27, 2015–Whereas 234 less tourists came to spend an overnight in Belize during the first quarter, January to March 2015, as compared to the same period last year, the country welcomed 33,707 more cruise tourists during the same months.

Contrasting with the nominal 0.2% fall in overnight tourist arrivals for the period, cruise tourist arrivals were up by 10.5%.

The month of February actually registered a decline in cruise tourist arrivals by almost 3% or 2,673 visitors, but this was more than offset by increases of 16%-17% in cruise tourist arrivals (over 18,000 persons more than the previous year) for the months of January and March.

According to the Belize Tourism Board (BTB), which released official tourist arrival data today, “The major factor influencing the results in the overnight sector was weather conditions. There were severe snow storms that took place frequently during this period, resulting in cancellation of flights that affected travel from Canada, as well as the Central and Eastern United States, including Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York City – some originating destinations for visitors to Belize.”

It also said that the fall in cruise tourist arrivals in February resulted from the cancellation of two cruise ships due to adverse weather conditions that made it impossible for tendering of tourists to take place from ship to shore.

“The Belize Tourism Board projects that 2015 will see an increase in arrival numbers over 2014 and it will continue to monitor global conditions in the coming months,” the release said.