| Last week we told you about the truly incredible tourism numbers for the the first quarter of 2018. They showed overnight arrivals up by 22% on average for the first there months of the year. They seemed to good to be true to us - and so, today, we asked the President of the Belize Hotel Association if hoteliers have been experiencing a commensurate bump in occupancy rates. He agreed that there is not, but explained why that is:...
Ted Tejada- President, Belize Hotel Assoc.
"The numbers that we are seeing are not room-night stays. They are arrivals in the country of Belize. Our hotels are showing a significant amount of increase. They are not showing the 22.5% increase as the numbers of what BTB is showing but many of that has to do with the fact that we have opened many other properties in the country of Belize. So the 22% had to be shared throughout the new properties that were actually added in the country of Belize. But every hotel has seen an increase in numbers. Actually, the numbers that I see ranges between 3% to 10% per property. Not only that, they are also showing an increase in rate. And I believe a lot of these tourists are looking at properties that have done improvements in their properties and newer luxury hotels. These are the ones that they are choosing. Actually, for example, we also added seven more rooms this year and we have seen a slight increase this year, as well."
Jules Vasquez- Reporter
"How many of those arrivals are being scooped up by Airbnb's in Belize. Is there any number that you can hazard a guess?"
Ted Tejada- President, Belize Hotel Assoc.
"At this moment I can share with you that 50% of the Airbnb have registered with BTB. So, those figures are counted in the numbers of the inventory you see."
Jules Vasquez
"We've been climbing, numbers are climbing, do you all foresee a plateau in these numbers in the near future that, 'okay, we've reached all that we can reach' or do you see it continuing to grow going forward?"
Ted Tejada- President, Belize Hotel Assoc.
"At this moment I do not see a plateau. I know that at this moment Venezuela just canceled 300 flights just on Thursday of last week coming in from Copa and for the next three months they will not be able to fly into Venezuela which is 900 flights. Copa is looking at Belize for opening another flight to the country of Belize. So, I am looking at airlines who are looking at Belize saying, 'can we fly to the country of Belize?' So at this moment, if everything goes good and we have no natural disasters, I don't see that number diminishing."
Belize has the highest average room rate in Central America. Guatemala's rate is $123 USD per night, Costa Rica 110 USD, Panama 85 USE, while Belize's average is 187 USD per night.
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