However, there is no resolution on the concerns to date, the Tourism Minister said. He added that the parties had agreed on a follow-up, to resolve the outstanding issues.

?Hopefully, the discussions will be successful and fruitful in the end,? he expressed.

Also present at Monday?s meeting were board members of the Belize Tourism Board (BTB), as well as Port Belize Limited (PBL), which has pledged to finance 50% of the $100 million project to build the cruise port.

We note that the last time we checked with the PBL, it was adamant that there would be no changes in the contract, to which it is a party. However, it was open to clarification of certain sections.

Carnival is an important investor, as it controls most of the cruise market in Belize, claiming 56.8% of passengers that landed in Belize in 2003, according to the BTB.

Amid the controversy over the new development, cruise tourism arrivals continue to grow in Belize. Latest reports from tourism authorities say that it has grown about 70% since January. High-end projections for 2004 place cruise passenger arrivals in the region of 1 million.

We have no hard data on how much revenue cruise tourism has contributed to Belize?s economy. Some industry interests and observers claim that a large chunk of what cruise tourists spend bypasses our national coffers, and accrue in foreign bank accounts.