Central America Hopes to Catch 5.6 Million Tourists this Year
Tourism authorities in Central America augur the arrival of 5.6 million vacationers in the course of the ongoing year, up 9 percent from 2003 when the region welcomed 5 million visitors, then 4.2 percent more than the numbers posted in 2002, said Spanish entrepreneur Javier Vega, president of the Central American Tourism Advertisement Agency (CATA).
Mr. Vega’s remarks came within the framework of an ordinary meeting of the Central American Tourism Council (CCT) in which Guatemala replaced Belize as new nonpermanent president of the organization for the next six months.
Salvadoran Tourism Minister Manuel Aviles noted the sector’s growth stems primarily from safety and security actions applied in the CTC member states -Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.
Mr. Aviles added that according to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), Central America is the only region on the face of the earth boasting a growing travel industry. He also announced plans for the soon creation of a security consulting office in an effort to guarantee a steady inflow of foreign sunbathers.
Alejandro Sinibaldi, director of the Guatemalan Tourism Institute (INGUAT), explained the top priority for the CCT right now is to strengthen its working ties with CATA, an organization founded on December 2002 with a view to bring in more tourists and hard-currency money to the region.
In addition, the CCT will also try to get the support of the Inter American Development Bank (BID) or any other international body to bankroll the investment projects of the Puebla-Panama Plan (PPP), a program that promotes Mexico and the region’s countries.
Moreover, a half-a-million-dollar fund will be set up for advertising tourist investments, for raising competitiveness within the industry, for improving quality, and for backing up safety and security measures.
Mr. Sinibaldi said that another challenge on the road ahead is the organization of the First Central American Travel Market Fair in Guatemala next October in an effort to put the region on the world tourist map.
