Tour Guides, Tour Operators and Fishermen Unite to Push Back on the 100% Increase in Hol Chan Park Fees

Yesterday, about 80-100 of San Pedro’s tour guides, tour operators, flyfishing and sport fishing guides, and business folk assembled at the Lion’s Den in San Pedro for a hastily organized meeting.

Hosted by the San Pedro Tour Operators Association, the goal was to discuss the fee for entrance into Hol Chan Marine Reserve from $10US to $20US – a 100% increase – without what many think was a proper study and presentation of the financials that led to this substantial increase.

Roberto Canul, head of the SPTOA, spoke first. At the table at the front of the room sat representatives from the SPTOA, from the San Pedro Fishing Association and San Pedro’s Mayor Wally Nunez.

Mr Canul stated that he had invited the head of San Pedro Tour Guides (he was there), Directors of Hol Chan Marine Reserve (they did not in attendance), the Minister of San Pedro, Andre Perez (not in attendance), the Belize Tourism Board (not in attendance) and the Caye Caulker Chairperson.

He made it clear that this was not an anti-Hol Chan meeting, what HCMR does is appreciated but, that he believes that a 100% increase in fees needs proper reason and financial justification.

Roberto indicated that the current board of Hol Chan came into office in 2020 and later said that the previous administration had left a financial mess due to mismangement and worse. Possible illegal activities had taken place, there were overdrafts of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and HCMR was broke. More recently, the current board said they had turned this economic situation around. Mr. Canul suggested that this turnaround indicated that the $10US fee was an effective amount to fund Hol Chan’s current operations.

He wanted to “stand in unity” with the stakeholders to discuss the increase in Park Fees from $10US to $20US that Hol Chan is “imposing on us”. He made it very clear that he is not necessarily against the increase, that he understands how much Hol Chan Marine Reserve does but that we need to do a proper assessment, a proper study of the financials and the proposals before this large increase is made.

The group in the back and the side grew larger as the meeting went on

Apparently, the HCMR study involved a survey of tourists asking if they would be okay with an increase in fee from $10 to $20US. (This was not enough justification for this large price hike)

A representative from San Pedro’s Fishing Association agreed. Asking that Hol Chan justify this large increase to its #1 shareholders – the guides of San Pedro.

Mayor Wally supported this – saying that he thinks an increase to $15US makes more sense. He later said on his official Facebook page: “I stand with the guides and the tour operators. It is important to listen to the concerns of our people and to come up with solutions that reflect their best interest.”

Billy Leslie, the San Pedro Tour Guides Association’s head, said he agrees with the increase to $20US. That Hol Chan’s marine parks are worth it – that it is cheap to comparable resources in other countries – and that the money doesn’t come out of tour guides’ pockets, it comes from the guests.

The attendees raised many points, including Mr Danny Guerrero, former head of the SPTGA, former mayor of San Pedro, and expected nominee to run for Area Representative (UDP) in next year’s election as well as individual guides.

  • An increase of this size is enormous and is not just “passed on” to tourists. Tourists see the entire cost of the snorkel or fishing trip when they are deciding what trips to go on/not go on
  • We are seeing different tourism here in San Pedro (than 5, 10 years ago) – many no longer come for 4 or 5 days of SCUBA/snorkeling/fishing – they come with maybe one snorkel trip planned and are more price-sensitive
  • July 1 (the proposed date for the increase) is SLOW SEASON in Belize – a time when we see more budget travelers/larger groups – this is the wrong time to make the increase in prices
  • Tour Guides are a big part of why visitors fall in love with Belize – why are we making their job harder?
  • Hol Chan has not done a very good job of communicating what they do – are they cataloging corals, measuring bleaching…many did not know the answers to those questions or how the moneys collected are being used
  • Belize is already expensive (airfares, travel, food) – this might be chasing away tourists
  • Tour guides are doing a lot of hard work – marketing, hosting, keeping folks safe, collecting the feeds, accounting, and administration
  • Fishing Guides mentioned that they will be hit with a “double whammy” – that Hol Chan is going to start collecting entrance fees for the use of the bajos and the fishing flats on the west side of the island and that the Coastal Zone will also be collecting Fishing License fees (it was also mentioned that Port Authority and Coastal Zone are quick to collect fees but we don’t see them at work on our island)

In the end, here is what was agreed upon:

This group will ask for another meeting – in 2 weeks’ time – with Hol Chan’s Executive Director Ian Pou and board (though I can’t figure out who is on the board!) as well as the groups invited to last night’s meeting (BTB and the minister) to ask for a proper assessment of the financials, a presentation of how the money will be used and how much that will increase their costs. To justify this increase to the shareholders that many think will have a negative impact of their businesses.

Until then, they ask that this 100% increase is put on hold.

How can you express your opinion if you are not part of these groups I hear you ask? My suggestion would be that you write to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve – you can find their information on their Facebook page.

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7 Comments

  1. Glenn on May 22nd, 2024 at 10:59 am

    A few years ago we did a snorkel trip to a spot in Cancun and there were so many tours there that people were bumping into each other in the water, the coral was all dead and fish were sparse.

    Last year, our snorkel trip to Hol Chan was amazing and the highlight of our visit to San Pedro. I would gladly pay the extra $10. But even there, the number of tour boats was a little concerning. So if the increased price limits the number of tour guides and tourists, then it would be a good thing. It is a resource that must be protected. But if the money is just going into a politician’s pocket, that would be a crime.



    • Thelma on May 22nd, 2024 at 12:12 pm

      There’s insufficient regulation, whilst organisations are fighting to protect the marine reserve so it doesn’t die off like Mexico. Limit the number of boats per day visiting the reserve. Any revenue raised must be put back into research and preservation. Don’t cry when it’s gone.



  2. Richard Wright on May 22nd, 2024 at 12:14 pm

    I can’t think of a single tourist that would be put off by an increase of $10. Considering the price of airfare and hotel rooms, that’s not a significant number.



  3. CJ Daiker on May 22nd, 2024 at 1:10 pm

    The tourists will pay it to help insure that the reef will be there in the future. I also agree an audit into how the money is being used should happen. Is the entity built to preserve the reef under funded, overfunded…Nobody knows.



  4. Richard Fields, Paradise Villas on May 22nd, 2024 at 5:22 pm

    Preventing overuse of Hol Chan through a fee increase is much preferable to using queuing to ration the use of the resource.



    • San Pedro Scoop on May 23rd, 2024 at 8:46 am

      I think limiting the # should be part of Hol Chan’s proposal – why they would be charging more.



  5. Scott Boyd on May 27th, 2024 at 1:17 am

    All parks should be free. Tourists don’t like hidden fees and the fee seems more like a bribe. Mother Nature put the reef there for free.