Tourism Means Business Forum

Author: Taylor Hoke | Major: Finance | Semester: Summer 2025

Over the past eight weeks, I have had the opportunity to live and work in Dangriga, Belize, which is the  “Cultural Capital” of Belize. I was part of the Mayflower Bocawina National Park team, alongside my partner, Graham Witte. The park is home to 7,000 acres of land and a vast quantity of flora and fauna. It was established in 2001 and has everything from waterfalls, bird watching, unexcavated Mayan Ruins, and camping. This internship was organized through Peacework and was a part of my Honors Thesis for the Walton College of Business.

We were tasked with creating a scholarship program funded by the park’s nursery. Along with developing marketing for that and the park. We also had the opportunity to speak on the scholarship program at the Tourism Means Business forum, where community stakeholders and local businesses attended. We were able to share an overview of the park, the barriers the park has, and some of the work we did this summer.

Before we figured out what our project was going to be, we had come up with a list of revenue-earning ideas that we shared with the chairlady, Rochelle Daily. She had shut down most of our ideas due to the lack of electricity at the park, funding available, and the priority of other projects. This was hard to hear at first because we had tried to take initiative and come up with ideas to better the park, but we weren’t getting anything in return. Rochelle is the one who told us about the park’s nursery and the idea of tying it to a scholarship program.

Graham and I noticed that a lot of people in Dangriga have never been to the park, and we wanted to figure out why. We concluded that people get the Bocawina resort, which is inside the park, confused with Mayflower Bocawina National Park. Another reason is the transportation issue, and you can only get into the park on foot or in a car. We decided we could help fix the first issue by building awareness and helping promote the park, since we couldn’t help with transportation issues.

We did this by filming our hikes. We filmed our hike up to the most popular waterfall at the park, Antelope Falls. We created a minute-long video highlighting the trail, overlook, and waterfall that the board could post on social media. This video highlights the rich biodiversity the park has to offer and shows locals and tourists the point of view of a hiker. We filmed another video on the scholarship program. It highlighted key features of the park and details of the program. We wanted to use this video to help market the program and showcase how the park is contributing to the community. We planned to share it online, on platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.

We were successful in creating a strategic plan outlining the steps for the nursery-funded scholarship program, and the board is going to use this as a draft to continue to develop and finalize the program, since it is still a work in progress.

 I have learned a tremendous amount this summer. Going into this trip, I knew no one, and I left with 7 new best friends. I have learned how to collaborate with board members professionally in a new culture. I have learned how to adapt to the slow culture here, and that things are not going to get done instantly like they do in America.

Coming to Belize, I wanted to make a significant impact and realized that I would only be here for two months, and that is just not a realistic goal. However, I was able to get meaning from my work and from the day-to-day interactions I had with the park rangers. I do feel as if I made an impact, even if it wasn’t from my project.

Darren, one of the rangers, told us on our last day how much we inspired him. He told us that he is going to get his passport on his next payday, and he wants to start traveling and seeing the world. It was impactful to hear that we had that difference on him, because he has had the same on us.

 I have learned patience and how to just sit with my thoughts. The constant go and the pressure to always be doing something are nonexistent in Belize. I didn’t know how much I needed that, to take a step back and to just be still. How missing your bus and having to wait around isn’t doing nothing, it is doing something. You have time to just be present in the moment and to sit and enjoy the beauty of the place you are in right now.

The next steps for me are going to be coming home and enjoying what I missed while being abroad. However, I want to take back all the lessons and new perspectives that I have gained from my time in Belize. How grateful I am for this once in a lifetime experience. Never in my life did I think I would be spending the summer with 7 random strangers in a foreign country for two months, but I am so glad I did it, and I would do it again. I would immerse myself in a culture like this again, and I am open to opportunities like this. I would love to have an internship abroad next summer if I have the chance. Lastly, I am extremely thankful to the Honor’s College, Dr. Farmer, and Peacework for making this experience possible for me.