Minutes BETA board meeting, July 20, 2004

Meeting opened at 9:30am at the Radisson. Present were Donna Hill, Godsman Ellis, Mick Flemming, Mike Heusner, Bruno Kuppinger, Dana Krauskopf, and Judy Yaeger.

Mick opened the meeting with a report on the BTIA board meeting. Major points were that BTIA is trying to buy the Marine Terminal, that BHA plans to have a symposium on cruise ship tourism, perhaps the last week in August, and that there was discussion about gathering statistics about the effects of cruise ship tourism on major sites in Belize.

Minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. The treasurer reported a balance of $2,034 in the treasury.

Mick reported that Goff’s Caye management is now under Coastal Zone. It was also reported that a moratorium was placed on the increase in cruise ship head tax due to objections. This led to a discussion about who is involved in negotiations on these kinds of issues. Godsman suggested that BETA, BHA, and tour guides write a letter requesting that they be involved in discussions/negotiations on tourism-related issues, or at least consulted for input before decisions are made. This led to a discussion of what happened to the cruise committee, which seems to be inactive or disbanded at present, and to Minister Espat’s promise that BETA would be represented on that committee. Mike agreed to try to find out more about the committee’s status, and Mick agreed to suggest to the Minister that BETA be more involved in decision making that affects the tourism industry.

Judy said she’d try to create CD’s of the PDF files sent some time ago by Craig.

The issue of garbage from cruise ships being barged to Belize was raised. Mike said he’d try to find out from D.O.E. the details aobut the quantity of garbage involved and what payments are being received for dumping, and by whom. This led to a discussion of the problem of grey water and sewage dumping in the sea by cruise ships. Bruno said he’d gather information about what kinds regulations other countries have developed to control cruise ship waste handling, as well as work on gathering information about waste handling in Toledo.

Godsman brought up the issue of determining carrying capacity and discussion followed about some factors that should be considered, including the time framework (number of visitors at the same time, per day, per week, etc.)

Mike reported that there will be a meeting at the Biltmore tomorrow, organized by PACT, to discuss protected areas strageties, including perhaps carrying capacity, and that he would be attending the meeting and report back to BETA about what was discussed.

Mick described a can crusher he had had fabricated to help deal with Chaa Creek’s waste disposal and advocated that BETA try to interest other hotels/resorts into purchasing one also. If 20 are ordered, cost would be $400Bz, with $25 of that staying with BETA, the other $375 going to the welder who is making them. Dana, Mike, and Bruno expressed interest in purchasing one, and the board agreed to endorse the product. Judy said she’d post the info on BETA’s website.

Because it was agreed that BETA is more likely to be able to influence tourism policy if it has a large membership, strageties for building membership was discussed. Mick suggested telephoning friends; Donna said she’d email her clients; Judy said she’d put together a list of those whose memberships have expired.

Mike talked about govermental and NGO stated efforts to convert cruise tourists to long stay tourists. No one was sure what methods were being used to try to accomplish this.

Godsman reported that IUCN, of which BACONGO is a member, reported on BETA’s cruise ship position in their newsletter. He also requested that IUCN be included as a link on BETA’s website, and Judy said she’d do it. Cuba is preparing for cruise tourism and is having a meeting in November to which BETA is invited.

Meeting was adjourned at noon.

Respectfully submitted,

Judy Yaeger

BETA secretary