Attending a Government Meeting While in Belize

Author: Kaityn Guest | Major: Supply Chain Management | Semester: Fall 2023

Hi, I am Kaityn Guest, a student at Sam M. Walton College of Business. Supply Chain Management is my major and I am also earning two minors: one in Economics, the other in Marketing. This past summer (2023), I spent two months in Dangriga, Stann Creek, Belize, on a trip organized by Dr. Amy Farmer and an organization called Peacework. I traveled alongside nine other University of Arkansas students. Our group all lived together, however, we were broken down into three subgroups for the work/research aspect of the experience. I was on the Tourism Team, where my job was essentially to act as a small business consultant. Throughout the summer we were researching the impact of having a digital presence for businesses in tourism-reliant economies. Although I completed my boots on the ground work in Belize, I have spent the fall semester reviewing the information I collected abroad. Dr. Farmer is my mentor, aiding me throughout the research and thesis composition process.

I initially saw an email advertising the program and quickly after met with Dr. Farmer, on Zoom, about the opportunity. The service aspect of helping small business owners while also gaining real-world business experience is what attracted me to the opportunity. The reason I chose to join the Tourism Team is due to the fact that the main objectives surrounded Marketing and Economics, both of my minors.

Our team hypothesized about what issues we may run into while abroad. Additionally, we tried to prepare ideas on how we could best assist the Belizean small businesses depending on their needs. There was one major roadblock our team ran into regarding social media marketing in Belize: many locals either did not have social media or only had Facebook. Looking back, this is something we should have clearly thought about beforehand, but it goes to show how digitized the U.S. is and how normalized many forms of social media are. Initially we had expected to show the businessowners tips and tricks on how to maximize their online marketing efforts, but this changed once we better understood societal norms in Belize. Before embarking on our trip, we were frequently told to go in completely open-minded and absorb as much as we could of the local norms before suggesting any business ideas to the locals. This piece of advice was imperative for the success of our trip.

This fall I have been analyzing the information I collected abroad as well as checking in on the small businesses we worked with in Belize. There were a few businesses that primarily were looking for social media marketing advice. I made sure to take note of their initial follower count, impressions on their posts, and a photo of their feed. It is exciting now to check in on their accounts and see the progress that has been made. On a similar note, I captured and edited content for a nearby hotel. I have had the opportunity to look back and analyze how those pictures performed on their Facebook page compared to previous posts that were not optimized for the platform’s algorithm. Another main project my group worked on was helping the actual town promote itself to attract tourists. Our Tourism Group created a website for the Town Council and have kept in touch with the local officials.

This project would not have been possible without funding from the Honors College and I am grateful for their help as this experience has been crucial to my development as a businessperson. I will be concluding the research of this topic and finishing my thesis in spring of 2024 with the help of my mentor.