Q & A with Manuel Heredia, Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture of Belize

After a brief period of distancing, Belize has rejoined the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and it remains a hands-on member of the Central American Integration System. Its Tourism minister is one of the most passionate advocates of the idea that these two organizations should work together to boost up the sector in the region they share.

Coral reefs have suffered damage in many areas of the world, but I’ve heard that corals in Belize are still intact… is that true?
Belize counts on 8,866 square miles of total surface, but there are only 350,000 inhabitants. This fact allows us the privilege of having 40% of national soil guarded as natural reservoir. That condition has also influenced the state of our coral reef, which is the second-largest in the world, though Australia has lost a lot of ground lately. Within that coral reef, there are pretty well known sites such as the Blue Hole, which was put on the map by Cousteau and enchants those who visit it.

How about the efforts to bring more South Americans to your country, particularly Brazilian tourists?
We have an aviation committee, the Aviation Development Committee (ADC), responsible of contacting airlines. We’ve been in touch with the companies that traditionally fly to Belize, such as American, Delta, United and Continental; and we have also negotiated with Virgin Atlantic and Copa. In the cases of Copa and Panama, we have talked to the head of that country’s Tourism Authority, Salo Shamah. Having a connection through Copa would put us into South America. So far, all these negotiations are bringing about excellent results.

What’s the condition of the relationship between Belize’s tourism authorities and the Caribbean Tourism Organization?
We’re very proud and excited because we are back in the CTO, as Belize’s previous administration stood aloof for two or three years, and with the new government we had a first visit to explore how we could actively rejoin this organization. We paid our membership fees this year; we’re negotiating an arrangement for overdue payments and we are working to return as full members. We believe it’s important for the region to work together; teamwork is cheaper and more efficient than efforts as separate destinations.

We are also integrated in Central America. We’re members of SICA and we’re analyzing ways for both SICA and CTO to work together, so as to achieve common objective in the region. We believe that if both organizations work together, we could do much more.