For the second year in a row, overnight tourism arrivals have registered a record breaking increase with the December figure for 2017 approaching 50,000 overnight visitors in one month for the first time in history. Overnight arrivals to Belize surpassed 427,000 visitors in 2017, vastly surpassing the 400,000 annual visitor threshold. This figure represented an 10.8% increase over the annual total of 2016.
The total cruise ship passenger arrivals experienced an overall growth of 0.9% in 2017. This translated to over 1,000,000 cruise visitors arriving in Belize for the second year in a row.
The following is a breakdown of the most recent statistics.
OVERNIGHT ARRIVALS REGISTERS 10.8% OVER THE ANNUAL TOTAL OF 2016
Traditionally March has been the zenith for overnight arrivals, but December has slowly been approaching the figure for March in recent years. The first time in recent history that December was the peak month for overnight arrivals to Belize was in 2015. In 2017, December surpassed the overnight arrival figure for March by almost 5,000 visitors! Overnight arrivals to Belize was 427,109 visitors in 2017.
CRUISE SHIP ARRIVALS EXPERIENCED OVERALL GROWTH FOR 2017
In 2017, total cruise ship passenger arrivals experienced an overall growth of 0.9%. This translated to over 1,000,000 cruise visitors arriving in Belize. In addition, there were 13 more calls this year as compared to 2016. This is positive news. Cruise Ship Arrivals of 1,014,231 for 2017 includes visitors to both Belize City and Harvest Caye Seaports.
The record increase in tourism arrivals is a reassertion that Belize continues to be a growing, viable and a must-visit destination in Central America and the Caribbean. Likewise, it emphasizes the effective and extremely successful efforts of the Belize Tourism Board to market Belize as a Curious Place and as a first-class tourism destination.
