_{Photo: Statistician, Jacqueline Sabal}

by Kristen Ku

BELIZE CITY, Wed. June 26, 2024

The Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) recently released the 2019 Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), which is a report that shows how tourism enhances cultural exchange and boosts economic activities.

During her presentation today, statistician Jacqueline Sabal explained that in 2019, tourism directly contributed 11.8% of Belize’s GDP, while the total value of all tourism-related activities amounted to $1.099 billion. This includes money spent by both local and international visitors on various services and goods, such as accommodation, food, and travel.

The expenditure pattern reveals the following:

Inbound Tourism: Visitors from other countries spent a total of $1,020.6 million.

Domestic Tourism: Belizeans traveling within their own country, spent about $78.7 million.

Combined Total: The overall internal tourism consumption, which combines both inbound tourism and domestic spending, reached approximately $1,099.2 billion.

Tourism’s direct gross value added (GVA), which is the way the direct contribution of an industry to the country’ economy is measured, was around $560.8 million. This amount reflects the earnings before deducting costs like taxes and subsidies.

When these are considered, the tourism direct gross domestic product (TDGDP), which is the direct GDP generated by internal tourism consumption, stood at approximately $558.9 million or 11.8% of Belize’s GDP, which was an estimated $4,754.2 million for the year 2019.

Tourism also plays a major role in employment, supporting 24,999 jobs across various industries tied to tourism, from hotels and restaurants to transport services. The sector is composed of numerous establishments, notably:

Accommodation for visitors: The largest employment provider with over 11,000 jobs.

Food and beverage services: Supporting around 8,600 jobs.

Travel agencies and reservation services: Approximately 2,200 jobs.

The percentage of Belize’s GDP that is directly impacted by tourism is comparable to other tourist-dependent nations like Mexico and Spain. In fact, the rate of impact on Belize’s GDP by its tourism industry even surpasses that of countries with well-established tourism sectors, such as Italy and Canada.

The SIB is already planning further studies and reports for 2024/25 to explore indirect and induced effects of tourism, aiming to achieve a wider understanding of tourism’s contributions to the economy.