 Newsletter
Volume 1, Issue 1 – February 2008
Presidents Message
By
Joel Torres, President
Welcome to the first issue of the bntoa newsletter, I first want to say on behalf of the Board
and myself “a
million thanks for giving us your vote of confidence and
the mandate to represent your business investment”
In
the past, the coming together of tour operators in the
BNTOA may have only had a limited impact on issues, but I
would like to assure you that your current Board intends
to play a significant role in the issues affecting our
industry and participate in the overall decision making
process. At this time we are in the process of registering
the BNTOA as a NGO so that we may partner and align
ourselves with organizations that share similar objectives
and goals. Ours is not an individual concern but a
collective one under the banner of a recognized board and
its general membership. I say this because I know many of
our members have made positive industry impacts as
individuals. Now the BNTOA will harness these resources
and go forth in unity, thus enabling the kind of
contribution that the BNTOA was originally created to do.
“When
people come together and work for the common good of each
other, great things begin to happen
We
now have Mr. Manuel Heredia Jr. as our new Minister of
Tourism and we will make every effort to share our
member’s vast knowledge and wisdom with his ministry. We
will immediately establish an open door policy to stay on
top of the GOB plans for our industry. Our goal is to be
involved at the consultation and planning stage instead of
reacting after the fact.
As
your President, you will remember that I pledged my hard
work and diligence to the newly elected Board and to you,
the members. So, I want to thank you again for your
support as we move forward “to
serve and advance
the interests of all BNTOA
members”
All
members are advised that the BNTOA Membership dues are
$150.00 per year. Your invoice and the registration form
to update your company details will be sent out soon by
email.
New members are subject to a one time registration fee of
$50.00 in addition to the annual dues. Registration and
dues received from new
members before March 31, 2008 will receive a reduced
registration fee of $15.00.
The
National Board will revisit the membership dues structure
for 2009. We welcome suggestions from our Destination
Boards for an equitable and graduating scale of the
membership dues.
By
Denise Ockey, Treasurer
One
of the many issues presented by you in the destination
meetings was the high cost of credit card processing. In
many instances, this amount is as high as 10% of the
profits of a small to medium size Tour Operator’s
business.
In order to negotiate
better rates with our banking institutions your National
Board needs to estimate the annual credit card sales
volume of the general membership.
The strength of the BNTOA will be in our numbers
and that information will come from your participation in
a survey
Each
member will receive a questionnaire from the treasurer@bntoa.org
requesting statistical information. Your response will be
kept confidential and is for calculation purposes only.
The
sooner we tally this information the quicker we can start
to negotiate on your behalf.
Please watch for your email questionnaire and
respond as promptly as possible.
By
Javier Novelo, Caye Caulker Vice President
The
Caye Caulker Tour Operators held their General Meeting on Wednesday, January
23, 2008 to elect officers to the board of their
Destination.
Elected into office were:
Robert Blease
President
Javier Novelo
Vice President Anwar Tours
Bryonnie Ysaguirre
Secretary
E-Z
Boy Tours
Artemio Marin
Treasurer
Anda De Wata Tours
Carlos Arce
Board Member
Hicaco Tours
Carlos Miller
Board Member Red Mangrove Eco Adventures
Mario Verde
Board Member Mario’s Tours
Caye
Caulker is the 7th destination in the Belize National Tour
Operators Association.
BNTOA
congratulates all members of Caye Caulker for making the
commitment to create a successful Destination and National
Tour Operators Association.
By
Henry Link Sr., Cayo President
There
are thirty-nine registered tour operators in the Cayo
Destination ready, willing, and able to “enhance the
Belize Experience” for the tourists, who wish to explore
what Belize has to offer.
Twenty-two of the operators of the Cayo Destination
are members of the Belize National Tour Operators
Association.
There
is strength in unity and it is expected that the
Association will be able to achieve what the individual
operator is not able to achieve.
Improvement in the following will give us an
indication of the success of the Association:
Infrastructure
– Some access roads are deplorable – for example, to
travel five miles from the Western Highway to Belize
Jungle Dome, using the road to Valley of Peace takes up to
30 minutes. It
is the same to travel from the Western Highway to Chaa
Creek Lodge and the streets through the Towns leave much
to be desired.
Waste
Management
– A major eye-sore and a health hazard has been created
by the dumping of garbage at the side of the Western
Highway west of San Ignacio, not far from the entrance to
Clarissa Falls Resort.
This site needs to be cleaned, a suitable location
designated for the purpose, proper arrangement made for
the dumping of garbage, and a fine, which will persuade
anyone from acting to the contrary, levied on anyone,
caught dumping garbage at site other than the site
specified for this purpose.
Compliance
– The Belize Tourist Board provides Decals to Operators
licensed to transport tourists.
Apparently the Operators display the Decals if they
so wish. Tour
Guides are provided with Identifications, which are to be
on display while they are working.
Apparently they carry the Identifications if they
so wish. Tour
Operators and Tour Guides should comply with the
provisions of the Law.
Fee
Structure – Structural adjustment of the Membership Fee
charged to Tour Operators is required if the fee is to be
fair and seen to be fair.
Criteria could
be: Number of guides employed; or Number of vehicles
operated; or Number of employees hired.
Participation
– It is said that there is continuous growth in the
Tourism Industry. Action needs to be taken so that the Tour Operators of the
West also benefit from the growth.
Business
Tax
– The Business Tax was increased overnight to 6 percent
of gross revenue. A
reduction of this rate would be welcome, especially by the
large Tour Operators.
The
Cayo district Tour Operators are mindful that the
Association has been dormant for the past three years.
They do not hesitate to pay
the $15.00 activation fee.
They do expect that the BNTOA will make a
difference, a positive difference; will achieve some
improvement in the Tourism Industry in general and the
Cayo Destination in particular, which will benefit all
Tour Operators.
By
Denise Ockey, Treasurer
Using
the collective purchasing power from the Association
membership is just one of the many benefits we are
currently developing. To remain competitive in today’s
market we know that you need to be as cost effective as
possible.
The
BNTOA will implement a bulk purchase program with
negotiated prices for members. Orders will be placed for
items needed in large quantities and contracts negotiated
for the most common services used.
To launch this program, each Destination Board
will be asked to provide a list of the most commonly
purchased items and services from their district members.
So watch for news from your Destination.
Board.
This is your opportunity to save money. The results will
be compiled and a price list created with our first order
deadline.
All
items will require full payment when you place your order.
Where it is possible, we will secure the BNTOA price for
members to purchase directly from the supplier at our
discounted rates. In the future, you will be able to place
and track your orders right on the BNTOA website. This
program alone could save you more than your annual
membership fee.
National
Board Members
Joel Torres
624-0765 joel@bntoa.org
President
Thomas Wilson 610-3754
tom@bntoa.org
Vice President
Denise Ockey 621-9595 treasurer@bntoa.org
Treasurer
secretary@bntoa.org
Secretary
Debbie Gegg 223-0748
bzedist@bntoa.org
Belize, Orange Walk & Corozal Destination Rep.
Javier Novelo 226-0327
cayec@bntoa.org
Caye Caulker Destination Rep.
Henry Link Sr. 622-8405
cayo@bntoa.org
Cayo Destination Rep.
Brian Young Jr.
523-3166 placencia@bntoa.org
Placencia Destination Rep.
Chuck Alexander
610-4424
sanpedro@bntoa.org
San Pedro Destination Rep.
Godfrey Young 522-3641
dangriga@bntoa.org
Stann Creek Destination Rep.
Ovel Leonardo
722-0050
toledo@bntoa.org
Toledo Destination Rep.
Andrew Godoy
227-1144
director@btia.org
BTIA Rep.
Belize
National Tour Operators Association
10
North Park Street, Belize City,
Belize
C.A.
Phone:
(501) 227-1144
Fax: (501) 227-8710
President: Mr. Joel Torres joel@bntoa.org
tom@bntoa.org
treasurer@bntoa.org
secretary@bntoa.org
Website owned & managed & BNTOA
uploaded 26 February, 2008
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