Tourism’s Bid toward Latin American Integration

South American countries gathered at the Berlin International Tourism Fair (ITB) renewed their intention to turn the leisure industry into an effective tool to achieve economic development and social equality on the one hand, and regional integration on the other. “The benefits of tourism in our societies are more than evident,” said Peruvian Tourism Vice Minister Ramiro Salas.

In his remarks at the forum entitled “Growth Perspectives for the South American Market,” the official noted that “if we boost our potentials and strategic alliances in the region, those benefits could be a whole lot bigger and more sustained.”

The seminar, one of the activities held within the framework of ITB, was attended by Ecuador’s Tourism Minister Gladis Eljuri and Argentinean counterpart Enrique Meyer, alongside Federico Silva da Costa, financial director for the Brazilian Tourism Ministry. Mr. Salas reminded his audience of the fact that a considerable chunk of tourists coming to Peru hails from South America, followed by North Americans and Europeans. A similar picture –he said- is seen in such countries as Argentina, Brazil and other neighboring nations.

“The future is in interregional tourism,” said Mr. Salas, a strong advocate of strategic alliances that foster extraterritorial solutions to the problems now hitting the travel industry in South America, especially the quandary of air connection shortage. One of the alternatives on the table right now is to continue pressing European airlines that either called off routes or never had regular direct flights to South America’s main destinations and cities to look at the region as a multi-destination offer.

A case in point is the Inca’s Way, a program pieced together by six countries formerly ruled by the old-timed civilization. The project covers the coastal plains all the way to the highest mountain in a historical trail destined to bring economic prosperity and regional integration.

The latter topic is also on the agenda of Ecuadorian Tourism Minister Eljuri de Alvarez. “There’re countries, like Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, that complement one another and could hurl joint promotional efforts,” she said.

Mrs. Alvarez underscored tourism’s role in attaining both regional and national development, and the need to count on policies that guarantee even distribution of resources and funds generated by the leisure industry. In the case of Ecuador, those benefits peaked $480 million in 2003 for a solid 4.4 percent slice of the GNP.

“With a 16 percent growth and 760,000 foreign arrivals in 2003, tourism has panned out to be Ecuador’s third source of income, trailing behind oil and bananas,” Mrs. Alvarez noted. In her expert opinion, the problem about Ecuador’s travel industry is that the Galapagos Islands are taking the lion’s share of travelers with a walloping 82 percent of the total, while other sightseeing spots like Quito and Cuenca –two cities protected by UNESCO- barely reach 50 percent. In the Ecuadorian Amazons, the ratio is a meager 2 percent.

“We must change that and make sure that we can provide a more evenhanded access to our tourist destinations. Ecuador is more than the Galapagos Islands,” the Ecuadorian Minister was quoted as saying.

As far as Argentina is concerned, tourism leapfrogged 18 percent last year to a record high 3.5 million foreign trekkers. Those tourists spent over $2 billion, roughly 37 percent more than the numbers posted in 2002. Those figures are thrice the amount of money raked in by the sale of beef, nearly as good as the profits made out of oil sales overseas, and equal to the entire volume of cereal sales dispatched to other nations.

Mexico’s Tourism Minister Rodolfo Elizondo informed in a press conference in Berlin that his country expects to jack tourism up 4 percent this year and round out a jaw-dropping 19.8 million travelers.

Last but not least, Brazil renewed its vow to make tourism a top-priority issue in the administration of President Luiz Inacion Lula da Silva. The Brazilian government wants to use tourism money to bankroll President Lula’s social development projects to stave off poverty and achieve social equity.

Brazil welcomed 3.7 million trippers last year and is hoping to double that figure in as early a date as 2007. That effort will take the creation of 1.9 million new jobs, the generation of bulkier travel profits and over $8 billion in investment.