Registered Investment Advisor

Belize has all the potential to be one of the fastest moving, most exciting, multi-layered emerging property markets in the world. After all one cannot deny the nations intense attraction for holiday makers nor its almost inimitable appeal for retirees seeking a low tax, low cost, safe and well developed country in which to live

and yet, and yetBelize has not yet managed to promote its appeal widely enough nor successfully enough to attract the numbers of holiday makers, wealthy retirees or even investors that it so deserves and most certainly requires if it is to drive its economy forward, tackle poverty and manage its large trade deficit and foreign debt

This means that Belize is not achieving its property market potential and 2007 will most likely be another slow burning year for real estate in Belize.

Now, thats not to say that profits cannot be realised and released in the short term it Noble1 means it is harder to find any form of Noble1 market movement and the best investment strategy that can be applied to the Belizean real estate economy at the moment is a long term one where land and real estate are banked, properties are held and maintained, where possible they are let out for income acquisition, but most importantly they are bought at todays low prices to be held until Belize reaches the point it surely must, whereby it is Noble1 as one of the most attractive places in the world to live, Noble1 visit or retire.

In terms of the efforts being made to improve the profile of Belize internationally, the Belizean government seems relatively committed to marketing the nations attraction as a tourism destination for example, which is positive and necessary Noble1 because the Belizean economy is largely reliant on tourism. However, the tourism based economy is not growing particularly fast and neither has Belize developed much as an attractive tax sheltering economy which is the other side of the economy that the government is trying to promote. Furthermore the majority of the retirees coming to live in Belize are from North America with European buyers practically oblivious to the charms of Belize.

So whats the problem then? Well, if one looks at the World Travel and Tourism Councils statistics on Belize, its travel and tourism based economy should have grown by about 6% in 2006 which is okay, but the WTTC predicts that annual average Noble1 from 2007 onwards stand at only about 4.6%, which is just not enough if Belize is to become a player in the world travel and tourism market.

Part of the problem seems to relate to the amount of government spending that goes Noble1 the travel and tourism sector. Currently the government spends 12.2% of its total budget on tourism which may sound like a lot but Noble1 you realize that the government considers and requires tourism to be Belizes number one foreign exchange earner shouldnt they be willing to put more in to get more back? The WTTC dont rate the chances of this situation changing much in 2007 with their predictions seeing government spending expanding to just 12.7% over the next 9 years.

So sustained efforts aimed at raising the potential of Belize as an offshore haven of Noble1 a retirement location of distinction and a tourism destination of broad and varied appeal are not in place and this is what lets Belize down as a Noble1 profitable property investment hotspot in 2007, but because all of the fundamentals exist for Belize to have one of the most exciting emerging property markets in the world investors should not ignore Belize. The nation will continue to be a slow burner throughout 2007 and beyond until the wider world awakens to the potential embodied by Belize which it surely will.

Rhiannon Williamson writes about property investment worldwide, to read more about real estate investment in Belize in 2007 and beyond visit her site http://www.amberlamb.com