The Lodge at Chaa Creek’s inclusion in Trip Advisor’s recently released “Travellers Choice top 25 Hotels for 2012” for Central America is a very satisfying vote of confidence coming from travellers themselves, the Belizean eco resort’s marketing administrator, Larry Waight said.
“Over the years Chaa Creek has received numerous awards and accolades, and this new Trip Advisor recognition is particularly satisfying because it comes straight from international travellers themselves,” Mr Waight said.
“For example, Chaa Creek was voted ‘Best Belize Hotel 2011’ by the Belize Tourism Board, and featured as one of the National Geographic top ten ‘Best Adventure Destinations for 2012’, and now with the Trip Advisor Traveller’s Choice award we’re starting the year off with the seal of approval from everyday travellers as well as industry experts. It’s a very good feeling, “Mr Waight said.
According to their website, “TripAdvisor’s travel community has written millions of reviews describing their best and worst vacations, so you can decide where to go and what to avoid.”
Mr Waight said that his office pays attention to Trip Advisor because the website’s content is almost entirely user-generated, and because of its interactive nature. “We’re always looking at Trip Advisor because you can get a real feel for what average person likes and doesn’t like when travelling. The opinion of industry professionals is of course very important to us, but we’re equally interested in what the travellers themselves have to say.
“So to be democratically voted by so many people around the world as one of the 25 best hotels in all of Central America, including Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and El Salvador, well, we find that very impressive.
Mr Waight pointed out that due to the global interest in Maya culture as a result of publicity surrounding 2012 and the Maya calendar, more and more people will be seeking travel advice about the Central American region this year.
“It’s particularly important to us here in the Heartland of the Maya what people are saying about us and how trusted we are by the travel community during 2012. We get very positive feedback from our guests and magazines such as Conde Nast Traveller, and this global grassroots support is one more indication that we must be doing something right.
“It’s a great way to start the year, especially when the year is 2012 and we’ll be so busy welcoming the world to Belize’s fascinating Maya culture, temples and history,” Mr Waight said.