Tourism Sector Reports Strong Visitor Growth Exceeding Pre-Pandemic Levels

Top officials from Belize’s tourism sector convened today for a press briefing and lunch, offering a comprehensive update on the industry’s performance and strategic direction. At The event, the latest tourism figures were presented, revealing a robust and sustained recovery for the region’s travel sector, with overnight visitor arrivals for the first ten months of 2025. Not only holding steady but significantly exceeding pre-pandemic levels. According to the most recent data on overnight tourist arrivals, the period from January to October 2025 saw a slight 0.4% increase compared to the same period in 2024. More significantly, the data shows a powerful 9.7% surge when measured against the pre-pandemic benchmark year of 2019. Evan Tillett, Director of Tourism, Belize Tourism Board opened with the good news and good numbers.

The data suggests that these figures point to a successful resurgence in the destination’s appeal and the effectiveness of tourism marketing efforts aimed at attracting visitors year-round. The ability to consistently outperform the strong 2019 baseline indicates that the local tourism economy has not just recovered but has entered a new phase of growth. And to make things even sweeter, travel new passenger traffic data reveals a clear hierarchy of major travel hubs, with Houston and Miami emerging as the dominant gateways, significantly outpacing other major cities. With Miami handled a staggering 60,596 passengers from January through October 2025, positioning it as a key hub for travel, particularly to Latin American and Caribbean destinations. Evan Tillett weighs in on the mind-blowing numbers of people passing through the Philp Goldson International Airport.

The data provides a crucial snapshot of air travel patterns and economic activity as the aviation industry continues to adapt to post-pandemic travel behaviors. The commanding lead held by Houston and Miami signals their critical importance in the global transportation network as we approach the end of 2025.