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Investment Climate
Tourism remains the largest source of foreign income for Belize. Approximately 61% of the tourists are American but a new runway extension at the Goldson International Airport can now accommodate the large airliners that fly from Europe, which will increase travel in that segment.
In recent years, there are more and more tourists coming in and they are spending more money. Overnight visitors to Belize increased by 4.5% from the previous year and hotel revenues increased by 9.2% over the same period.
Ecotourism has become a viable tourist option for Belize. Over 93% of the country is still forested and about 42% of the land and up to 10% of the sea is under some sort of protection by the Belizean government.
To further cement Belize as a travel destination, the Belizean government and Carnival Cruise Lines intend to build a $50 million port and tourist village in Belize City. The new port will allow ship’s passengers (not just Carnival’s ships, but all liners) to disembark from cruise lines without having to ferry passengers from open water to port, which is how it is currently done.
The tourism industry is followed by agriculture with the biggest contributors being cane sugar ($40.77 million USD), citrus ($39.66 million USD) and bananas ($26.504 million USD). Marine products account for ($53.36 million USD).
The United States is Belize’s largest trading partner. The US provides Belize with approximately 39% of its imports and accounts for 55% of total exports. The US surplus has lessened in recent years in part due to increased trading with Asian countries. Other major trading partners include Mexico, England (and other countries in Western Europe), and the CARICOM member states.
Between 1990 and 2004, 25,000 offshore business and trusts have been registered in Belize.
Between 2000 and 2005, Belize was the fastest growing cruise market in the Caribbean.
GDP (2005): $2.1 billion.
Official exchange rate: Since 1976 Belizean banks have bought U.S. dollars at the rate of 2.0175 and sold them at 1.9825, making for an effective fixed rate of Belize $2=U.S. $1.
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