BELMOPAN, Belize (CMC) — Belize will re-open its land borders on May 31, but only for visitors, with the authorities here indicating that nationals will have to wait a bit longer in order to visit neighbouring countries.

Belize’s land borders were closed in March of 2020 as part of the efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“Cabinet made a decision to open land borders for tourist only, beginning May 31 and that is for tourist only. So, it’s a phased approach where tourist will come in under specific conditions. It is not open for everybody. It is not open for Belizeans,” said the chief executive officer in the Ministry of Tourism and Diaspora Relations, Nicole Solano.

She said that the borders will not be opened to Belizeans, nor will they be used as in transit points.

“It is open specifically for tourists who come in under specific conditions.  Any tourist that has a negative COVID test similar to the airport, they can come in. They have to be able to show a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of arrival, or 24 hours of arrival with a rapid antigen test.

“So if they don’t have that they will be able to test on arrival at the land borders. But they will have to be able prove that they are COVID negative to come in. Anybody that tests positive will not be able to enter the country,” she added.

The authorities said that phase two of the land border reopening will allow for foreign tourist and visitors of friends, family and relatives, while the third phase will be a full reopening.

However, there is no timeline on how long each of the phases for reopening will take.

“Basically we are looking at what phase one will require. We are working of course with the Ministry of Health, BAHA (Belize Agricultural Health Authority) there are several agencies involved that we need to work through the situation to make sure that it happens safely and in accordance with the protocol”

She said opening the land borders is not an easy task, adding “it is not something we are taking lightly at all. It has taken a lot of discussion.

“We have been trying to do it for a long time and it has been delayed. We are at the point now where we feel we can safely open for tourism, and that will be the first phase. Depending on how that works, we will then have a better indication of how we can move to phase two. If it doesn’t work, we also reserve the rights to close the borders down,” Solano said.

But the re-opening of the land border comes at a time when there are media reports of increased cases of COVID-19 in the state of Quintana Roo Mexico.

“It is a huge concern, and it is definitely something that we have considered with the ministry of health and wellness, because looking at the cases in both Mexico and Guatemala is a major concern. However, we have protocols in place.

“We know that the number of tourists coming in under those protocols are very low. If you look at the PGIA (Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport), the majority of the people coming in from the airport are coming in from the United States. The US has a high number of cases. Yet the number of people coming in there that are positive are very low,” Salano said.

Land border tourism accounted for up to 14 per cent of the tourism market in 2019 and the government is confident that the land border openings will be safe.

“We will have the people who feel that it is necessary for tourism and economic recovery, and we will have the people who feel we need to shut down because we want to eliminate any possible risk of having anybody enter with COVID.

“It is completely understandable, both sides. So what we have tried to do is have a balance approach and look very carefully at how we can have a responsible and very safe opening for tourism because our stakeholders need it. Economic recovery is of grave concern right now and it is something we need to focus on in a safe manner with all of the parities and agencies involved. We feel we can do it. We feel we have given it a considerable amount of attention,” Solano added.

Meanwhile, the authorities said the temporary travel ban on persons travelling from India and Bangladesh will also apply to the reopening of land borders.

“Border security is a much bigger issue beyond the tourism topic. We in the tourism industry cannot pretend for a minute we can solve all these problems. We are cognizant of those issues. We know that making a declaration of opening the borders is going to mean people will think they can come in. We feel confident in the agencies.

“We feel confident in the people at the borders. We have had several meetings with all the agencies at many different levels. And that is only the start. We must continue doing that over the next couple of weeks. And as things continue to reopen, we will have to tweak and pay very close attention and address things as we go. But we feel confident in the people at the borders and the agencies that we should be able to manage this,” Solano said.