Overnight arrivals for the 3rd quarter (July-September) of 2015 have shown a significant increase of 6.9%, when compared to the same period in 2014. September saw an astounding increase of 19.3%; the highest increase ever recorded for the month of September, going as far back as 2006. There were 14,242 overnight visitors in September 2015, which is an increase of 2,299 compared to September 2014.
The Airport remains the leading entry point into the country. Air arrivals accounted for 74.7% of the total overnight arrivals. September 2015 saw an increase of approximately 20% through the international airport.
“We can conclude that visitors from the United States accounted for the bulk of this increase in airport arrivals for September, as arrivals for Americans increased by 28.55%,” stated the Belize Tourism Board in a press release. “Overall, Americans continue to be our main market, making up close to 65% of arrivals.”
Noteworthy in the statistics is that there has been a major increase in South American arrivals, with a 45.1% increase for the first nine months of 2015. This was followed by the Asian market which had a 25.1% increase.?
“We anticipate continued growth in the South American and Asian markets with new marketing strategies that have been implemented in these areas, such as Trade Shows, Road Shows, service via Copa Airlines and other marketing partnerships,” concluded the BTB.
Every month since June 2015, has resulted in increased arrivals, when compared to the same months in 2014.
Cruise arrivals (Chart Below) for the first 9 months of 2015 showed a small dip of 0.3% when compared to 2014, but a significant increase of 44.42% when compared to 2013
