UDP Against Mandator Traveler's Insurance

The Belize Tourism Board is pushing ahead with its plan to implement a mandatory travelers health insurance on February 15th. That's less than a month away, but, we are told, the pushback against the new 18 US dollar fee from hotel owners is growing.

As we have reported - the fee would be paid by every visitor arriving in Belize through the airport or land borders. It would provide them with provide coverage up to $50,000 USD in medical expenses related to treatment of COVID-19 for a period of 21 days, or provide cover for lodging expenses due to quarantine up to $2,000 USD, as well as other medical events.

But, the UDP says, quote, "the notion of mandating visitors to purchase a particular policy from a designated insurance provider is a matter of grave concern." End quote. The Opposition adds that it amounts to, quote, "yet another tax on visitors coming to Belize." End quote.

The party warns, quote, "taxing visitors indiscriminately thereby increasing the costs of travel to Belize in a very competitive environment, may cause more harm than good in our national economic recovery efforts."

The UDP has also called for "full disclosure on the procurement guidelines employed to select the insurance provider." Most estimates say that will be a windfall for the insurance provider, since the revenue stream would amount to 5 to 10 million US dollars per year. We note that Costa Rica recently exempted all vaccinated persons from the requirement for travel insurance and now require that "Anyone not fully vaccinated must have insurance which covers potential quarantine."

Channel 7