The 2026 edition of the Centroamérica Travel Market (CATM) opened its trade exhibition floor in Guatemala City on October 20, 2026, bringing together six participating nations — Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic — all vying to win over international travel buyers and secure new deals that will drive cross-border visitor growth.
For Belize, CATM 2026 represents a critical opportunity to expand its global tourism footprint, and the country has arrived with one of the largest delegations at the event: 42 industry delegates spanning public tourism bodies and private operators, occupying 18 individual exhibition booths. Behind the vibrant cultural displays, featuring local music, cuisine, and art highlighting each nation’s unique travel offerings, tourism stakeholders from Belize are holding one-on-one meetings with international travel wholesalers and tour operators, focused on converting industry interest into formal booking contracts for upcoming travel seasons.
This push comes at a strategically important time for Belize, which is preparing to launch a new direct air route connecting Europe to Belize. Efren Perez, President of the Belize Tourism Industry Association (BTIA), highlighted that the recent announcement of Discovery Airline’s new Frankfurt-to-Belize route has given Belize delegates significant leverage in conversations with European travel agents attending CATM. The new route will allow European sellers to add Belize properties directly to their product portfolios for the 2027 travel season, opening a major new growth channel for the country.
Beyond expanding the European market, Belize’s core strategy at CATM is to diversify its source markets by growing regional tourism across Central America, particularly to fill occupancy gaps during Belize’s traditional off-peak travel seasons. Jose Alpuche, Belize’s Ambassador to Guatemala, explained that for decades Belize was only a secondary destination for international travelers who flew first into Mexico or Guatemala, but the new direct European route positions Belize as a primary standalone destination for European travelers. At the same time, growing regional travel between neighboring Central American countries remains a key priority to stabilize seasonal demand.
However, stakeholders have acknowledged that long-standing border crossing challenges between Belize and its neighbors threaten to undermine regional marketing efforts and multi-destination travel packages. Perez noted that Guatemalan tour operators have repeatedly raised concerns about delays and difficulties at Belize’s border checkpoints, creating a barrier to regional travel growth. Moving forward, Perez and Ambassador Alpuche plan to engage with Belizean immigration authorities and other relevant stakeholders to open a dialogue about reforming and improving border processes, aligning infrastructure and services with the significant marketing investments being made by Belize’s tourism sector.
Leaders across the region agree that collaborative, cross-border tourism marketing will benefit all Central American nations, rather than competing against one another for visitors. Harris Whitbeck, Director of Guatemala’s national tourism institute InGuat, emphasized that tourism acts as a powerful bridge for mutual understanding between neighboring countries. He noted that greater visitor flow between Guatemala and Belize will benefit both nations, and called for deeper cooperation between public and private sector stakeholders across the region to grow regional travel.
For many individual Belizean operators, participation in CATM is an annual investment that sets the tone for the year ahead. Patricia Ramirez, owner of Belize-based tour operator Splash DMC, attends CATM every year and has already scheduled 40 pre-arranged meetings for 2026, with a clear target of closing at least 10 new solid partnerships. Ramirez notes that a small number of high-quality, productive partnerships delivers more value than a larger roster of underperforming ones, making 10 new deals a clear success for her business.
Other private Belizean properties, including Ka’ana Resort in San Ignacio and its sister property Itz’ana in Placencia, are using CATM to reframe global buyer perceptions of Belize as a diverse travel destination. Jessica Mijangos, Director of Marketing and Sales for the two properties, explained that many international buyers still only associate Belize with narrow categories such as jungle adventures, cave exploration, or beach getaways. CATM gives delegates the chance to showcase the full breadth of Belize’s travel offerings, from jungle exploration and Mayan ruins to coastal getaways and water-based activities, helping the industry reposition Belize as a well-rounded, must-visit destination for all traveler segments.
The CATM 2026 trade floor remains open through October 21, and the exhibition hall continues to buzz with activity as delegates work to turn introductory handshakes into long-term, revenue-driving partnerships for the coming travel years.