Belize Luxury Beach Resort, Portofino Beach Resort, San Pedro, Belize

December 15th- 22nd, 2012

…If the world is going to end…

…you might as well have front row seats at Portofino Beach Resort in Belize!

Our Package includes:

*    7 Nights Accommodation in a Beach Cabana with unobstructed views of the Caribbean Sea
*    Round trip Domestic Airfare from Belize City to San Pedro
*    Meet and Greet Service at the San Pedro Airstrip
*    Round trip transfers from San Pedro Airstrip to Portofino
*    Welcome Tropical Cocktail
*    Daily Full Breakfast and Three Course Dinner (Including one night of Mayan buffet)
*    Xunantunich and Cave Tubing -
Enjoy the morning breeze as you travel along and make your way to the Haulover River. There your private van awaits to transport you along the winding Western Highway as you travel to the Cayo District enjoying all the sights of the village life.  Upon arriving at the Mopan River, your Xunantunich Mayan exploration begins by first crossing the river in your van atop a hand-cranked ferry! Xunantunich contains one of the tallest Mayan structures found in Belize. This site provides panoramic views of the hilly Cayo District and is situated just 2 miles from the Guatemalan border. After lunch, it is off to the second part of your adventure where you will tube through the Sacred Caves and enjoy the tranquility of the rainforest to your hearts content

*    Snorkeling to Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley -
Hol Chan Marne Reserve and Shark Ray Alley is approximately 4 miles south of San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. It is praised for its abundant sea life, and its beautiful coral formation, and therefore, its great snorkeling. Hol Chan means ‘Little Channel’ in Mayan and is a natural break on the barrier reef where ocean depth ranges from 5-30 feet.  Here you will enjoy seeing marine life and huge coral gardens, among which are flourishing stag horn corals and sea fans. Shark Ray Alley is a shallow water snorkel where you will enjoy swimming with harmless nurse sharks and southern stingrays.

*   Lamanai Jungle River Adventure -
Start your day as you make your way through the cayes and up the river to the Belize mainland.  Once there, you board a private van which takes you along the country side. Aboard the river boat for a leisurely tour on this unexploited wonderland of bird life, crocodiles, turtles, bats and orchids.  Arriving on the shores of the New River Lagoon and once ancient Capital of Lamanai, which is surrounded by pristine rainforest, lunch is served.  An exploration afterwards, takes you along the nature paths to various temples.

*    After your day of Mayan adventure enjoy a very tasty and traditional Mayan Buffet

US$ 2,305 per person, based on double occupancy.

Regular Payment Plan
50% Deposit Required
Balance due 60 days prior to arrival

Pay Everything Upfront
If booked in the Year:
2010: US$ 1,844
2011: US$ 1,959

Monthly Payments:
Save on our discounted monthly payment plans. Email us for details.

www.portofino.bz

www.portofinobelize.com

We hope to see you here in BELIZE!

Written by Tacogirl, on July 2nd 2010

Today I am doing something out of the ordinary and heading to Burrell Boom with Mike. We have a meeting to attend so I booked us a tacogirl special on the 7:am Tropic Air and away we go. Nothing like a plane ride over the Caribbean Sea to start your day right.

The BHA 2010 Biannual AGM was both educational and productive. Attending the meeting gave Mike and I the opportunity to meet the board members and learn more about the BHA and their mission as well as explain the new website concept to them and answer questions. The Belize Hotel Association board is composed of a strong group of people who are results driven and very focused. The board members are all local business owners who volunteers  by choice because they believe strongly in what they are doing and it shows.

Through increased yearly participation in trade shows abroad the BHA is building a strong presence for  Belize within the travel industry. I thought it was great that they have included information in  a few other languages within their Belize literature. This allows for people in other countries to learn more about Belize in their native tongue and shows a willingness of the BHA to cater to different markets.

The Belize Hotel Association has a very solid marketing plan and with their ongoing participation in Travel and Tourism trade shows and the numbers they are getting show clearly that their marketing plan is working. During the presentation BHA were able to show how tracking traffic on the BTB website showed  increased visits from a specific location as a result of being at a trade show there.

It was very inspiring to learn more about the  Belize Hotel Association’s goals and how they have been continuing to develop their relationship with the Belize Tourism Board in order to create a united vision for Belize.  The two groups have been working hard together to benefit Belize and expand our country in the tourism and travel market. The  BTB has been generously helping the BHA with ongoing funding and this shows that the BTB believes in what the  the BHA is doing and is willing to work together and build something solid.

I have always believed there is enough pie for everyone and in listening to board members of the BHA speak it is clear that they are really working hard to put themselves out there with the goal of knowing that success for any of their members is a success for the team. They have future plans to give members training so that everyone is able to understand and read their statistics and be able to qualify that the hard work is paying off in the form of visits to websites and bookings for it’s members. The saying strength in numbers holds true here and the Belize Hotel association is proof of that.

Tacogirl’s Webiste: www.tacogirl.com

BHA’s Board of Directors:

Doug Thompson (President)
Einer Gomez (Vice President)
Ali Flota (2nd Vice President)
Robin Mc Cutcheon (Treasurer)
Mike Preston (Secretary)
and Directors:
Mariam Roberson (former President)
Teresa Parkey (former President)
Elena Cuellar
Sandra van Noord
Nick Davies

Known to be the largest tourism trade show in Latin America, Tianguis has always been the definitive place to meet, greet, and promote tourism.
The Belize delegation was excited to be part of the show. Attendees where Tess Avilla, administrator of the Belize Hotel Association, representing Belize and all their members.
Lorena Vaques from Hugh Parkey’s Belize Adventure lodge, Jaguar Adventures Tour and Travel and Belize Dive connection.
Michael Preston, director of the Belize Hotel Association and owner of Midas Resort located in San Ignacio
And Sandra van Noord, as well director of BHA and owner of Portofino Beach Resort in San Pedro, representing Belize, Portofino Beach Resort and San Ignacio Resort Hotel.
According to the Travel Trade who where attending the previous years, the show was a bit quieter this year, but overall the festivities seem in full swing. Attitudes are good, and no one is pretending that the road back will be easy. But as usual, the hoteliers and destinations are here, selling their hearts out to promote their country and Belize did great!