For months, there's been buzz and blowback about the proposed cruise tourism project in southern Belize spearheaded by Norwegian Cruise Line. We've heard a diversity of viewpoints, but we haven't heard from Norwegian, which, we gather, didn't want to negotiate in public. But the negotiation is just about finished because two weeks ago on the 31st of July, both sides signed an eight page, 23 point memorandum of understanding.
The MOU was released to the media at a two and half hour press conference which finished about two hours ago. Due to time constraints, we can't go into full details on that tonight, but we can provide the broad outline of the project.
Norwegian plans to invest $50 million USD Dolalrs in the Harvest Caye project, just south of Placencia which it expects to complete in 2015. They expect to create 1200 jobs during construction and once the project is underway.
That outline was fleshed out by an all star cast of government leaders and Norwegian Executives at the event which was held on the sixth floor of the Matalon Building.
Minister Godwin Hulse, who heads the cabinet subcommittee on investment and who led the negotiations with Norwegian told the media Government is obliged to welcome investment…
Hon. Godwin Hulse - Minister of Labour
"Any investment that will create some jobs for our people - I think we need to get that in our minds. Those who are comfortable in their castles and in their little areas and have their jobs, need not to be mean because the man who doesn't have a job, is really looking for one and we are committed to helping him find one; that is the fundamental principle behind these kinds of investment. It is a very good thing because this project aims to bring more visitors to the south of our country. When people visit your country - one thing is for sure, they leave some money - you won't give them anything free. When they leave the money, hopefully, and the project is structured that the money is left in the hands of Belizeans. There is no way that we should have all these wonderful things in the south and the people in the south live in such abject poverty and I make absolutely no apology for trying to fix that."
Valdemar Andrade - Director, Cruise and Regional Initiatives
"We have to be conscious that this will impact 30 communities within these areas and about 60 different offerings that we're looking at and so we have to be absolutely clear that we cannot allow a small set of people to show and enjoy certain things because we at the Belize Tourism Board and the Ministry of Tourism have to ensure the benefit to the masses."
Hon. Godwin Hulse
"It is not that we are out, lying down and 'licky licky', etc. we are here to protect the interest of the Belizean people because that is why we were brought to government and that is what we are going to do and we are going to do so successfully."
Colin Murphy - VP, Destination & Strategic Development,NCL
"Probably the first thing I should do is to confirm that there has been absolutely no 'licky licky', I have no idea what that means but I'm pretty sure if I experienced it I would know about it."
So what will the project be like? Well, Hugh Darley is the Director. First off, Norwegian doesn't intend to just build a port for cruise ships to dock at, they want to build a destination, where many of the visitors will choose to stay for the day to part-take in cultural entertainment and water recreation – while the rest go to the mainland for tours. Hugh Darley explained the destination they are envisioning.
Colin Murphy - VP, Destination & Strategic Development,NCL
"We want this project that we're working on to look Belizean. We don't want it to look like a Mexican port or St. Thomas port, we want it to be unique - to have a sense of place."
Hugh Darley - Belize Project Director
"We develop destinations, we are story tellers so if anything we want to do is that when we go to a destination is that we tell a story. There's what we call a place there and there are a lot of places that you go that cruise tourism or cargo ports and when you get out - what do you see? You see warehouses and concrete. What you want to see it's there so we build a set of arrival, a set of place. It's just like writing a book - you have to have a place and time, the time and place we've picked is the heritage of Belize - starting with the Mayan, the Garifuna and the transfer of people from other parts of the Caribbean and Africa to the coast of Central America. Garifuna, why Garifuna - it's the only place in the world where we can tell that story and the effect is going to be real. We will not create a fantasy story, we will tell them the real story, the real people. We want to train and have the people tell their own story."
And while that is all fine and well, much of the opposition to the project is the effect it will have on overnight tourism – particularly the carefully cultivated overnight product on the Placencia Peninsula, which is just a few short miles from Harvest Caye. The Belize Tourism Industry Association has taken a hardline saying that the two are mutually exclusive, but today all at the head table were emphatic in saying that in fact they can complement each other:…
Hon. Godwin Hulse - Minister of Labour
"I have also heard emphatically that so called cruise and over night tourism cannot co-exist. I have no idea what that means, I have no idea what cruise and over night can't exist - I don't see any reason why foreigners coming into Belize to visit our beautiful country and leave money can't co-exist. What happened, will they hate one another? You came and I came and I shouldn't have come - I don't understand that at all."
Colin Murphy - VP, Destination & Strategic Development,NCL
"In 2012 you had 600 or a 1000 passengers coming to Belize and the majority of them left thinking that Belize City represented Belize. We think that by showing them how beautiful the south is and introducing them to that, it will drive more over night tourism and investment by these passengers - we've seen that and proven it all around the world."
Hugh Darley - Belize Project Director
"A million people come to Belize through Cruise Tourism and what do they see? There are a million eyes that have already picked Belize once - very easy for them to say 'you know what, very good experience, I'm coming back'."
Laura Esquivel-Frampton - Director of Tourism
"There is no study that has been produced, there is no evidence that has been produced that says that cruise tourism negatively impacts over night tourism. In fact, our numbers as we continue to have high growth in the cruise tourism industry right now coming into Belize City- we see our numbers for over night growing exponentially."
And while that is one controversy, another is that this project deviates from the National Sustainable Tourism Master Plan which says "the only acceptable form of cruise tourism for the southeast coast of Belize is pocket cruise tourism." And this isn't pocket cruising, this is mega cruise tourism with the third largest cruise company in the world, giving them their only strategic location in the Western Caribbean. So then how does that square with the tourism master plan? Hulse says, the master plan must serve the ends for which it was made:…
Hon. Godwin Hulse - Minister of Labour
"Plans and their plans and yes the Tourism Master Plan was endorsed, well thought out, well managed and well structured. But built in it for those who will read it carefully, as I did, is the concept of growing tourism. That concept is built in the master plan - not of shrinking tourism- the concept is to grow tourism. Therefore, there is nothing wrong and it behooves the Cabinet to decide, this is same mechanism - yes it varies from the strict letter of the master plan - but God forbid, the country and the Cabinet have not shackled by the writings in a document which purport and speak to the development of a time when it was produced."
Valdemar Andrade
"Cabinet has agreed to vary that policy because this project can fit the spirit of what the original intention of the Master plan is."
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