Going Places with the BTB

Belize was represented in Curacao  from June 13th – June 16th, at the Platinum Associate Membership Advisory Council Conference 2010 of the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA).  The Conference is a great opportunity for many cruise executives of Florida, the Caribbean and Latin America, to get together, analyze trends and discuss current issues.  This event gives its partner destinations the opportunity to consolidate relationships and to develop successful bilateral partnerships with every sector.

The Belize Team  in Curacao was delighted to use this opportunity to announce that Belize would be hosting Platinum 2011! The Belize delegation included the Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation & Culture, Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr., Stanley Longsworth Jr., Lloyd Enriquez, Michelle Bowers, James Nisbet, Alan Deeks and Emil Novelo.  Planning and preparation for 2011 is already underway with the FCCA Executive team.

FCCA is a trade association composed of 15 Member Lines: AIDA Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Costa Cruise Lines, Cunard Line, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America Line, MSC Cruises (USA) Inc., Norwegian Cruise Line, Ocean Village, P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, and Royal Caribbean International. It was created in 1972 by the Member Lines operating more than 100 vessels in Florida, Caribbean and Latin American waters, in order to discuss and exchange views on issues relating to: legislation, tourism development, ports, safety, security and other cruise industry issues.

Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture, Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr. traveled to San Juan Puerto Rico this weekend to attend the regional Ministers of Tourism Council Meeting for the Caribbean. The meeting had participation from Caribbean destinations such as Jamaica, Barbados, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Grenada, St. Maarten, St. Martin, Antigua, Bermuda, to name a few. Some of the main matters discussed included the future of the Caribbean Tourism Development Company and the Caribbean’s involvement in the process as the value of regional destination marketing is considered. Also discussed was an agreement proposed by Puerto Rico Tourism Company to have Caribbean destinations support them in their efforts to increase cruise ship visitation and airlift to the region.

Attending the meetings on behalf of Belize were Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture, Hon. Manuel Heredia and Shakira Tsai, Ag. Director of Tourism and Director of Marketing & P.R. for the Belize Tourism Board. The meeting was hosted by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO).