7 News Belize

FECTAB VS. NCL: The Beef Is Real!
posted (December 19, 2016)
On last week Friday's newscast, we finally got to show you what NCL's Harvest Caye Island getaway looks like.

That gave us the opportunity to speak with their Senior Vice President of Destinations and Strategic Development, Colin Murphy, about FECTAB. That advocacy group has accused the cruise line of routing guests who signed up with local tour operators from Belize City to their southern cruise port. That effectively locks those guests away, causing FECTAB members to lose business, since those guests can't take those tours they signed up for.

We showed you how Murphy and Tourism Minister Manuel Heredia Jr. denied this allegation, saying that FECTAB is intentionally misinforming the public. Well, we've managed get a copy of an email which FECTAB President Tom Greenwood sent to the BTB, confirming that this happened.

Greenwood's email is to Karen Bevans, the Director of Tourism, and in it he exhibits an email sent by a tourist who booked a tour from one of the FECTAB members, only to find out that he and his companions will not be able to take that tour. The man's name is Chris Moxon, and it he writes, quote, "I was very sad to learn on my cruise last week that the cruise companies no longer dock near Belize City. When I arrived at their 'private' island, I was informed that all guests were no longer allowed to leave their 'compound' and that no outside tour companies were allowed to come into their compound." End quote.

The email from the tourist then closes saying, "Hopefully things change, and I will be able to use your tours again in the near future."

Greenwood also lashes out at BTB and the Ministry of Tourism. In a 1000 word, rage-filled rant, Greenwood points out that it was the intention of the Belize City-based operators that their guests who ended up on Harvest Caye, were to have been taken on tours by tour operators from Placencia and Independence. Unfortunately, that was not allowed because as we told you, only Tom Wilson's H20 Tierra tour company is licensed to take guests on tours off Harvest Caye.

As we showed you, Harvest Caye is a paradise, but from Greenwood's perspective, it may be a beautiful prison, but it is a prison nonetheless. He says, quote, "This is...a bad blow to Belize, seen internationally as APPROVING such a monstrous denial of guaranteed constitutional freedom of movement."

He then mauls the Tourism Ministry saying, quote, "We at FECTAB are at a loss on how matters have reached this disgusting level of lack of official concern about things that are dreadfully wrong here, and publicly, officially declared actual support of this insane scenario at Harvest Caye . We will continue our efforts to free the independent guests of NCL at Harvest Caye aka Alcatraz, in order to have southern tour operators and guides carry out tours on our behalf, on a joint business level, which they have enthusiastically welcomed in our meeting with them."

That kind of strong language was certainly the tone of their last press conference a month ago. For context, here's a few choice excerpts followed by the immediate response by the NCL and Tourism Ministry officials:

Yohny Rosado, cavetubing.com
"They are no longer coming to Belize. They are going to "alcatraz island." It's an island for tourist and for Belizeans it's an "alcatraz island," you cannot go there. If you go there you will come out in a body bag."

Colin Murphy, Senior VP - NCL
"At the moment we have 80 sum calls scheduled for 2017, we're hoping to grow that as time goes by. We have no contracts with any other cruise lines to come to Harvest Caye at present so it's just our 3 brands. Obviously we've made a significant investment here, we've planted a flag in Belize so it will make a lot of sense for us to support that with more calls."

David Almendarez, Cave Tubing R Us
"I want to see the agreement that you sing with them, that you showed the other day, that you say no ship from here will go down there and if ships are going down there, I want to know why and who change it and how. Because we were lying when we said that was happening and I want you fixed it."

Daniel Ortiz, 7News
Will any of the NCL ships make any calls in Belize City or is it going to be all exclusively to this location?"

Colin Murphy, Senior VP - NCL
"I wouldn't say exclusively but the vast majority of our calls will come to Harvest Caye that's why we've invested so much money and so much time and effort in building this destination, but if there's instances where they can't be accommodated here, of course we can use Belize City. There will be few and far between because the abundance of our trips will be coming to Harvest Caye now."

David Almendarez, Cave Tubing R Us
"Nothing that goes down to Harvest Caye is design for us to pick up. They have totally cut out the local tour operator. The only way you could get money from Harvest Caye is if you become a slave and go work for them big tour operators."

Tom Greenwood, FECTAB
"Before we are put on a box in the ground, FECTAB is going to try to put a dent in that armour of come to Belize and do as you please."

Colin Murphy, Senior VP - NCL
"Well as I said we've got 400 people working for us down here directly, probably 1200 whose jobs depend on the success of Harvest Caye so really that's a political question. I guess you have to decide whose jobs are more important. FECTAB members or the 1200 people in the south whose jobs are dependent on this development so I can't really directly address FECTAB issues."

Yohny Rosado, cavetubing.com
"You know what hurt us that we got bookings. Yesterday, that we got bookings today for the ship that's going to Harvest Caye and we have the number right here the media could call - 521-2510. Very professionals calling us "are you from cavetubing.com?" yes. "Oh you have some guests' right here at Harvest Caye." "As you know you guys cannot come here and we cannot go there." Bogus. How does the people book a ship that's coming to Belize ended up in Harvest Caye? By lying"

Colin Murphy, Senior VP - NCL
"Well I've heard that but I can't believe it's true frankly, because we've been working with the government, with BTB for years on this project and everyone knows what we were planning to do. Everybody knew what the start date was and actually as you know, we delayed this project a year so that the folks in Belize City got an extra 12 months of calls from us that was originally communicated. So everyone knew what the start was for Harvest Caye. If they're taking passenger bookings for days on the ship, they knew it wasn't going to be in Belize City. I don't understand how that can happen."

Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr., Minister of Tourism
"The story that came up that some of those tour operators had bookings with Norwegian that were diverted over here, that is not true. I verified with them, they would never have anyone buy a cruise tour that is destined for Belize to divert it to Harvest Caye. That will not happen, they are genuine business people, we know them well and I am sure that I knew from the time they were talking that that cannot be so. Overall, I believe that it is good for Belize. It is over a hundred million dollars worth of investment. And, if anything fails, they cannot take the island back to the States, you know. The investment will remain over here."

In that email to Karen Bevans, Greenwood called out Tourism Minister Manuel Heredia Jr. He said, quote
"The tourism minister's open declaration on the media that the BTB have no knowledge of bookings by us in the north with guests from Norwegian going to Harvest Caye, is monstrous, and we consider this at FECTAB to be a callous attack against our integrity.

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