The year 2012 began with a record breaking number of overnight tourist arrivals. As we continue in the third quarter, we see a steady increase in the overall arrival of overnight tourists. Airport arrivals have also seen very favorable growth and this trend is expected to continue for the remainder of the year.
The BTB is delighted to share this phenomenal year in the tourism sector. The following is a detailed report of the first 8 months of this year. The year 2012 began with a record breaking number of overnight tourist arrivals. As we continue in the third quarter, we see a steady increase in the overall arrival of overnight tourists. Airport arrivals have also seen very favorable growth and this trend is expected to continue for the remainder of the year.
The BTB is delighted to share this phenomenal year in the tourism sector. The following is a detailed report of the first 8 months of this year.
Thus far, 2012 has seen an 8.5 % increase in overnight arrivals when compared to 2011, and an 11.1% increase when compared to 2010. This means that there have been a total of 15,512 more overnight tourists in Belize when compared to last year.
January began with an amazing 24,263 arrivals. As incredible as the starting month was, the peak month for overnight arrivals was March with an astonishing 32,240 overnight arrivals.
July saw a 7.2% increase in tourist arrivals, adding up to 1,736 more tourists, while August hosted 10.1% more tourists, totaling 1,793.
As demonstrated in Figure 1, May has seen the largest growth when compared to the previous year with a 14.6% increase, totaling 2,816 more visitors. This is followed by June, with a 13.1% increase, then by March, with a 12.6% increase. April remains relatively steady with an increase of 0.5%.
Overnight tourist arrivals are expected to see a continuous increase going into the end of the year in light of the Maya 2012 celebrations. This also marks the start of the tourism high season, which begins in November.
Airport arrivals have also seen a continuous increase compared to previous years. Thus far, 2012 has seen a 15.1% increase when compared to 2011; this is an astounding 20,214 more tourists travelling to the Philip Goldson International Airport than the previous year.
Upon viewing Figure 2, it is clear to see that 2012 has been a very successful year in airport arrivals. Similar to overnight tourist arrivals, airport arrivals saw a peak in March which consisted of 25,982 visitors, which signifies a 13% increase from 2011.
The month of July saw increases of 17.7% and 19.7% when compared to 2011 and 2010 respectively. August was also a successful month. There was an increase of 23.2% when compared to 2011 and 21.4% when compared to 2010.
The year began with a strong 34.9% increase compared to the beginning of 2011. January saw 86,128 cruise arrivals, which has been the highest number for the year.
The second and third quarters have seen a steady decrease due to the slow season in tourism. The first and fourth quarters for the year usually see an increase in the cruise arrivals due to the winter season in other parts of the world.
The third quarter of 2012 began with an increase of 9.6% seeing 35,224 cruise tourists when compared to the 32,132 from 2011. The cruise arrivals, however, looks promising and we anticipate an increase as the year comes to a close.
For more information on events taking place in Belize’s tourism industry, please contact the Belize Tourism Board at 227-2420, via email: info@travelbelize.org or visit our website: www.travelbelize.org
