It has been confirmed that the Lions National Convention will be hosted by the San Pedro Lions Club and will take place from Friday, May 22 to Sunday, May 24, 2009. Chosen as Lions Queen to represent San Pedro this year is 18-year-old Alexis Guerrero.

Alexis Guerrero is a graduate from San Pedro High School and was the valedictorian of her 2007 class. She currently a honor roll student at St. John's Junior College where she will be graduating with an Associate’s Degree in General Studies with a major in Literature. She plans to pursue a career in law. Alexis has also been a member of the San Pedro Dance Company since childhood and was Teen Talk columnist for Ambergris Today for 2006/2007. She is daughter of Lydia Guerrero (well known educator) and Horacio Guerrero (Professional Tour Guide).

Because the San Pedro Lions Club will be host of this year’s convention, Alexis will also be crowned Lions Queen for the entire country which is Zone 59. We congratulate the Lions Club for choosing such a beautiful and intelligent young lady to represent them and wish Alexis all the best and joy that comes with becoming part of the San Pedro Lions Club.

Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) is working to secure sufficient energy supply to meet the country’s peak demand of over 74 megawatts (MW) following a notice received on Thursday, April 30, from Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) of Mexico that it will not be able to supply BEL with firm energy for the next four months, commencing May 8, 2009. During the dry season, BEL purchases as much as 43 MW of firm capacity from CFE.

In its notice, CFE explains that damage to major generating equipment in central Campeche, following the total system outage on Wednesday, April 29, has severely limited their capability to provide firm energy to the Yucatan Peninsula, which has forced that company to suspend the firm energy supplied to BEL. This damage was responsible for a national power outage in Belize.

BEL currently sources power from hydroelectricity, the West Lake Generating Facility, diesel generating plants in Belmopan and Caye Caulker and from mobile units. Since hydroelectric production is less than it is in the rainy season, BEL will continue to use local generation sources efficiently to minimize possible power outages.

On April 6, BEL connected to Belize Aquaculture Limited (BAL) for the provision of power supply to meet system demand and to maintain system reliability. BEL and BAL signed a 15- year-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) in 2008 for the purchase of up to 15 MW of firm capacity and energy from its 24 MW heavy fuel oil fired plant located in the Stann Creek District.

As to whether we should be expecting more power outages, Public Relations Officer, Ms. Vonetta Burrell confirmed to Ambergris Today that BEL should be able to supply the country with sufficient energy and will be advising the public when it comes to having planned power outages. BEL encourages customers to continue practicing energy conservation.

The two best primary school spellers on Ambergris Caye sped to Belize City with their classmate fan clubs on Thursday, April 29, for the 15th Coca Cola National Spelling Bee District Championship. Two boats, compliments of SEAduced, carried the energetic class groups across the sea to cheer their friends, Alyssa Arceo, 1st place Spelling Champion of The Cayes, from Standard V at The Island Academy, and 2nd place winner Nalini Chi, Standard 6 of New Horizons Seventh Day Adventist School.

The girls entered the grand Belize Elementary School Auditorium and took their places on a large stage in front of an audience of over 500 enthusiastic students, teachers, friends, relatives, and live microphones linked to LOVE-FM radio.

Opening performances included a beautifully hand-signed accompaniment to “Land of the Free,” Belize’s national anthem, by students from Stella Marris School followed by guitar-players and student choir from Belize Elementary. In the ‘wings’ was the Spelling Bee’s Official Mascot, A-Z Bee, a buzzing, bumbling, giant yellow and black-striped hive of hilarity! He rubbed each of the 20 best spellers for luck and the competition commenced.

Nalini and Alyssa succeeded through the first rounds with victories over words like taupe (a light brown color), Paleozoic (a time period of the dinosaurs) and “gesundheit!” (what Germans say to another after a sneeze.) After an intense series of elimination rounds Nalini and others were left behind by Alyssa, who eventually successfully spelled “furuncle,” “a skin condition resulting in a protruding boil,” to secure a third place finish!

First Place went to Zhanae Sutherland of Hummingbird Elementary and second place to Aaron King of Hattieville Government School, both of Belize City. They will compete at Nationals in Belmopan on June 5. Alyssa and Nalini achieved their top spelling success out of 18,000 total school children throughout the entire Belize District.

Kudos girls! Additional accolades for Alyssa, who says, "It was actually fun. I study the complete wordlists; then I consult other lists by language of origin." She is continuing to study yet another list in case, as a National Championship District Alternate, she is called into action on June 5!

After publishing the editorial that “Maga Season Has Come Early” and showing that the average percentage of room occupancy for San Pedro in April 2009 was about 45%, I came across an article which stated that Caribbean tourism is suffering from economic fallout. Interestingly enough the statistics show that, with the exception of Jamaica and Cuba, all Caribbean nations have reported a decline in tourist arrivals to their islands for the first quarter of 2009. And surprisingly Belize only reported a decline of just 2.4%.

The latest data released this week by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) shows that out of 12 countries reporting latest statistics for the first two months of this year, five reported double digit losses.

Anguilla suffered the biggest blow out of the twelve, reporting a drop by 18.8%, followed closely by Antigua and Barbuda which reported losses of 14.3%. St. Lucia is hoping to turn around its fortunes with its jazz festival as the report showed the island suffered a 13.7% drop in tourist levels for the first quarter of 2009.

Jamaica and Cuba, however, reported gains over the past winter season. Cuba saw a 4.5 per cent tourism growth while the industry in Jamaica grew by 3.2 per cent. There was no data available for other Caribbean nations, the report indicated.

The Caribbean tourism industry has been taking a beating since the global economic recession hit the US, the region's biggest market.

The drop-off also comes as the countdown continues for the full implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which will require that all US residents travelling to the Caribbean, Bermuda, Canada and Mexico have a passport in order to return to the country. That will take effect on June 1st.

Tourism accommodations continue to rise on Ambergris Caye

San Pedro Warden for the US Embassy Dr. Wil Lala also just release his biannual gathering of location and contact information for the resorts, hotels and other vacation rentals on Ambergris Caye which indicate that accommodations continue to rise on the island.

Ambergris Caye now has 1,957 units. (A unit is a guest accommodation that can range from a single room to a 5 bedroom villa.)

* Between 2005 and 2007 there were approximately 300 new units added to Ambergris Caye.

* Between 2007 and 2009 there were approximately 400 new units added.

There are now 680 additional units under construction. This figure does not includ those developments that have been approved but have not started construction yet, such as South Beach.

Dr. Lala indicated that his gathered information will be used for disaster planning and locating tourists in the event of an emergency.

Are We in Troubled Times?

If residents are complaining that tourism is very slow on the island, but statistics are showing that the decline in tourist arrivals for Belize during the first quarter were down only 2.4%, then what is the deal?

There are 1957 units to fill on the island and we also have to compete with the lure of eco-tourism in and around the country. Could most visitors be looking for cheaper deals on the mainland during these tough economic times where they are normally offered better deals? Generally, the cost of living on Ambergris Caye is higher than most parts of the country, thus accommodations are generally pricier.

Are we overcrowding our island with too many condos, villas and hotels which are spreading the visitors thin all around the place? Will mega resorts like South Beach add to this problem? Maybe there should be some control as to how many resorts the island should have, or maybe just slow things down a bit.

Another solution could be a proper and extensive marketing plan for Belize which the Belize Tourism Board (BTB) could prepare and heavily advertise our country abroad. This has proven to be very effective in the past. Just a couple weeks back, we met with members of the BTB who were on the island with a film crew working on a promotional video for Belize to market abroad. These are the things we need to see more of and kudos to the BTB for attending all those tradeshows as well.

In their Travel Section last week, The Miami Herald indicated that this year, with the world economy still soft, even Caribbean islands typically beyond the budget are offering reasonable rates and free nights. Some are even throwing in deals on dining and activities. Under the headline: “Island time: The Caribbean is more affordable than ever” the article promotes that never has a bargain been more coveted by US residents to head to the Caribbean. Another online publication is indicating that Caribbean destinations are reporting an unexpected jump in tourism as vacationers once bound for Mexico's sunny shores turn to new destinations amid worries about the Influenza A (H1N1) flu. We should take note and offer those great bargains as well. We need to do a little more in times of ‘Maga’ (slow) season to help pick up tourism in our own country.

With the help of the article Ambergris Today published about the progress at the San Pedro RC School Cafeteria, a freezer, refrigerator and a stove were kindly donated by Richard Medina and Jose Rivera to the project in progress. Eve Dembeck, who is spearheading the project, was delighted with the donation and told Ambergris Today that much progress has been made with all the donations and assistance she is getting from volunteers.

Last week, Deputy Mayor Nesto Gomez lent a helping hand to Eve as the electrical work was being installed in the nearby library also in the RC School compound. The wiring for the cafeteria was also in the process of being installed. With the help of the San Pedro Town Council and other donations, Mr. Gomez is helping with the construction of the cafeteria as much as he can.

“We have come a long way,” commented Mr. Gomez. “But there is still a lot to be done. We ask for the kind donations of persons or business that can lend us a helping hand to finish this great project for the school.”

“The children and the school will benefit tremendously with this new cafeteria which can also be used as an extra room for projects or meetings,” commented Eve.

With the help of Kate Eggert and other volunteers, Eve is working very hard to finish the project before she leaves for the US for a while. She commented that four ceiling fans are on the top of the wanted list, along with floor paint. Any cash donations or assistance would greatly help the project move along. Wiring for all the electrical work has been obtained and electrician Rodrigo Vasquez has volunteered his services for free.

Two lovely angels are dedicating their heart and soul to make this project a reality so that the school children can be provided with a healthier meal plan during break and lunch times. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated. You can contact Eve at 623-9962 of Kate at 206-2668. Both of them extend their gratitude to all those who have donated and helped so far with the construction of the RC School Cafeteria.

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