Plans to develop tourism in five Mundo Mayan nations

Economy - Development projects

Kingston._ Counterpart International has been invited to take the lead in developing tourism, culture and environmental aspects of five Mundo Mayan nations of Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, PositiveTourism.Com reported.

Counterpart´s President, Lelei LeLaulu disclosed that The Mundo Maya Organization in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank, Mayan nations and other partners are embarking on a project to restore archeological sites, build rural communities and design solid sustainable tourism infrastructure.

LeLaulu met with Ministers of Tourism and senior tourism officials to develop plans for a US$20 million project - to be administered by Counterpart - that will coordinate environmental conservation, community development and public-private sector partnerships in the region.

The Maya are the indigenous people of Southern Mexico and Central America, occupying an area comprising the Yucatán peninsula and much of the present state of Chiapas, Mexico; Guatemala and Belize; parts of El Salvador and extreme western Honduras. Speaking a group of closely related languages, the population of Maya today is more than 4 million.

These Mesoamerican Indian people are noted for their architecture and city planning, their mathematics and calendar, and their hieroglyphic writing system.

A team of specialists from Counterpart, Conservation International, Tourism Development International and National Geographic are currently in Central America exploring the ecological and promotional aspects of the program.