BTB “Singhs” to the tune of the Jamaicans

A copy of a letter obtained by The Belize Times this week reveals that the Barrow administration continues to be unmindful of yet another serious fracture in nation’s stakeholder tourism business, and warns of stormy seas ahead for the cruise tourism industry.

On July 1 the Federation of Cruise Tourism Associations of Belize (FECTAB) wrote Ms. Selini Matus, the Director of the Belize Tourism Board, (copied to both the Minister and CEO, Minister of Tourism) to warn of yet another disturbing development.

The letter was a follow up to a May 10^th meeting between Ms. Matus, BTB Board Chairman Lindsay Garbutt and FECTAB executive committee members which discussed the state of the tourist industry and in particular the state of Cruise Tourism in Belize.

At that meeting the group had agreed that the prolonged world economic recession had “infected the majority of the passengers that are coming on shore because they have limited spending power. Coupled with the recession, which is a global phenomenon, is a regional problem as the local Belize shore excursion business is being infiltrated by foreign interests.”

FETCAB had pointed out that: “Since the middle of 2009 the Carnival Cruise lines has solicited the Chukka Caribbean Adventures group of Jamaica to provide all its shore excursions in Belize without allowing Belizean operators to bid for the contract. This Chukka group is presently operating in Belize under the tour name Bakabush Tours.  A registry check will show that the Chukka Group owns 2/3 of the Bakabush operations. Chukka Caribbean Adventures are owned and operated by the Melville family of Jamaica.

“Back in 2009 an interview was posted on the internet which quoted comments made by both Marc Melville and John Byles of the Chukka outfit, in which they stated that it was Carnival that approached them to provide shore excursion services for Carnival passengers in Belize.

“This begs the question why would Carnival Cruise Lines seek to undermine local tour operators for the benefit of foreigners, with all the potential for aggravation?”

But if that is not bad enough, FETCAB alleges, and our research indicate that the allegation is one hundred percent accurate, that not only is all current “Carnival Cruise Lines shore excursions to all our heritage sites are being run by the Chukka outfit” but that their cave tubing operation is being run from Jaguar Paw, mile 38 on the Western Highway and THEY ARE NOT PAYING THE REQUIRED FEES TO THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CULTURE AND HISTORY (NICH)!

FETCAB further asserts that “on all the Carnival excursions bottled water, soft drinks, chips, biscuits, t-shirts, etc. are sold on board the buses by the Chukka tour guides. These guides are the ones that have notified the local operators of such practices because they believe it is wrong. This practice serves to crowd out all the small vendors at the sites such as Altun Ha, Lamanai, Xunantunich, etc. The small vendors are considered the backbone of an economy; if that sector of the market diminishes so does the overall economy. These are sacred areas that should be left for the small Belizeans (as has been done in the past by Belizeans Tour Operators).”

FETCAB says that their “biggest concern is that the Chukka group is being paid via foreign bank accounts and all the monies made from the sale of the tours through Belize are being kept in the United States or Jamaican banks. As a result the Belizean economy does not get the benefit of using those funds within Belize’s banking system to enhance the Belizean economy.”

This should be the Barrow administration’s biggest concern too because it means that they are also not collecting in the other areas such as GST, duties, transfer fees, et cetera. At a time when the Belizean economy is struggling on all fronts, that alone should be enough for the Barrow administration to sit up and pay notice. While FETCAB notes that these foreign entities are earning money using Belize’s natural and human resources, the Chukka Group does not own any properties or loans in Belize, and so they have no exposure and no stake in Belize. It also means that none of the US dollars earned are coming into Belize.

Currently Belize is experiencing one of the slowest tourism “slow” season ever. Carnival Cruise Lines is currently the only line coming to Belize during this time and FETCAB is reporting that “tour guides salaries have been drastically slashed and they are allegedly threatened daily that soon Jamaican guides will be imported to take over the jobs of Belizean guides. The report received is that the Chukka group is planning under the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) agreement that foreign tour guides must to be allowed to be work in Belize. The reason is that these guides can be paid almost 60 percent less than Belizean guides because the competition in Jamaica is fierce. What will happen if hundreds of Belizean tour guides are jobless by early 2011?”

The speculation is that the money Belizean guides earn will soon be slashed to less than $50 per day.

And if that is not bad enough, there is also word from other sources that Carnival and Chukka will team up with another regional company that franchises the same predator practices called “Margaritaville” – who will engage in the tourist souvenir provision business.

FETCAB warns the BTB, and the Government of Belize: “It is our belief that the local tour operators and tour guides will no longer sit idly by and watch our industry disaffected by people who are not contributing to the expansion of the Belizean economy. Note that this is a volatile situation because Belizeans are losing their bread and butter and will not be able to sustain this external attack anymore as their patience is running thin.”

While few if any would dare argue as to the competence of the minister responsible for tourism to understand and deal with these issues, the same cannot be said about his CEO who is widely regarded as one of the administration’s brighter bulbs. Why no reaction or action from Mike Singh? Why hasn’t he briefed the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on this situation? Will it take another secret contract revelation before something is done?

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