TOURISM: Weh Deh Happen?

Last week was the last for the Director of Tourism, Mrs. Tracy Panton.    So who is the new Director of Tourism?  After all, this is the industry which as the Prime Minister of Belize has stated is significant as it accounts for thousands of jobs and is the industry that contributes the most to the foreign exchange earnings of the country.

Well, for something as important as Tourism, it is unfortunate that as we approach the end of what has been a “down” year – in arrivals (both overnight and cruise), in hotel tax revenues, in  construction of new hotel developments and tourist operations, in new markets- there is NO DIRECTOR OF TOURISM.

What exactly is the situation?

Well, Mrs. Panton left on Friday and by all indications the non-renewal of her lucrative contract is welcomed.  The Acting Director of Tourism will be Mrs. Shakira Tsai, the Director of Marketing.  This is not welcomed because marketing of the country under her tenure has been unproductive and unimpressive.

It is widely rumored that both the Registrar of Hotels (Lloyd Enriquez) and the Director of Product Development (Laura Esquivel) have applied for the position of Director of Tourism.   The Registrar of Hotels by all indications has been doing an adequate job in that post, one that is critical since it is principally responsible for inspecting and licensing hotels, collecting hotel taxes, strengthening of the system to collect such taxes and assessing those hotel operators who do not report accurate tax information.  It is these dollars that drives the marketing and product development budget and now with a Ministry of Tourism that is poised to be rebuilt, it is these dollars that will have to contribute to that entity’s operations as well.  So should he get the position, there will be a huge void created in the engine that drives the activities of the Ministry of Tourism and the Belize Tourism Board.

What about Ms. Esquivel?  She is neither academically nor professionally qualified to be at the helm of the BTB overseeing the work of the HR/Finance, Marketing and Product Development and working in close collaboration with the Registrar of Hotels.  Let’s not forget Ms. Esquivel is a part of the Belize City Council, the same council that has been embroiled in finance and human resource scandals since it was first elected.  Ms. Esquivel sitting as a Councilor has not demonstrated her skills in helping to prevent the disasters that unfold almost weekly now at the Council yet she is expected to be managing a major artery of the only industry that brings in the most foreign exchange earnings?   Then, there is still the matter of her sitting as a councilor while she works at the BTB.  Shouldn’t statutory institutions have a policy that persons employed cannot hold political office because it only runs the risk of the person paying far more attention to his/her political constituencies than that of her job…quite the case with Ms. Laura Esquivel.

So, 2010 is only a few days away and this country, symptomatic of the Government, does not have a sense of direction or a Director of Tourism.  What a mess!

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