We, the undersigned, urge Belize government officials and tourism leaders to prevent the development of Placencia as a cruise ship destination because: -- A sporadic influx of large numbers of day-trippers would overwhelm Placencia's facilities without adding significantly to the city's revenues, particularly for the accommodations industry. -- Large groups of strangers roaming the world's narrowest street for short on-shore visits would destroy Placencia's unique village lifestyle for residents and eliminate its signature appeal to tourists desiring to sample local culture. -- Ship and launch traffic would threaten the very environment that makes Belize an international tourist destination, adding to environmental pollution, damaging the vulnerable Southern Belize environment, including coral reef,s, tropical forests, lagoons and inland rivers. -- Southern Belize tourist attractions -- many of them undeveloped and unprotected -- would be overwhelmed and damaged by excessive numbers of large tour groups. -- Belize is a jewel - cruise ship tourism is selling it too cheap when we have so much to offer from reefs to jungle, all in one location. -- Overnight tourists and overnight tourism companies support local Belize businesses - cruise ship lines and cruise ship tourists don't. -- Cruise ships and cruise ship tourists will bring Belize City crime problems to southern Belize - and we know that our police and our politicians can't protect us. -- Local control will be non-existent. The US can't control cruise lines and effectively enforce its laws, the Belize government hasn't been able to in Belize City, either. And, each cruise line that visits Belize earns up to 40 times the entire revenue of Belize in just a single year. Under these circumstances, there will be no local control.

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