As part of the FITUR 2020 fair, which takes place from 22nd to the 26th of January in Madrid, ATREVIA, the Central American Tourism Promotion Agency (CATA) and Iberia, held a breakfast last Monday with seven Tourism Ministers from Central America and the Dominican Republic, which discussed the main tourism and investment opportunities offered by the region.
The meeting was attended by the Minister of Tourism of Honduras, Ms. Nicole Marrder, Costa Rica‘s Minister of Tourism, Maria Amalia Revelo, Panama’s Minister of Tourism, Mr. Ivan Eskildsen, Guatemala’s Minister of Tourism, Ms. Ericka Guillermo, the director of the Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism, Ms. Anasha Campbell Lewis, the director of the Tourism Development Council of the Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic, Carmen Martínez, the president of the National Chamber of Tourism of Honduras on behalf of FEDECATUR, Epaminondas Marinakys, and the general secretary of CATA, Ms. Carolina Briones.
The event was moderated by Mr. Germán Ríos, ATREVI’s senior Partner, economist, former corporate director of Strategic Affairs, Public Policy and Competitiveness at the CAF (Latin American Development Bank) and assistant professor of Economics at the Department of International Relations and Global Affairs at IE University.
All the attendees unanimously pointed to connectivity as one of the sector’s priorities in the region. “This is a fundamental in order to help promote destinations and improve the experience of tourists, who can see it feasible to visit several places on a single trip,” said, Ms. Nicole Marrder, who was followed by, Ms. Ericka Guillermo which highlighted that, “it is essential to pursue accessible tourism, a resolution that is allocated to the necessary investments that will increase internal connectivity and build a good aviation network”.
Sustainability was also present in most interventions. For Ms. María Amalia Revelo, “we are facing a coherent, responsible consumer who seeks sustainability that is only possible in collaboration with small and medium-sized enterprises”. Panama, for its part, “aspires to be a world-class sustainable tourist destination, and plans to rely on the richness and diversity of its natural and cultural heritage, as well as the quality of its services”, according to D. Iván Eskildsen. In the case of Nicaragua, Ms. Anasha Campbell believes that, “sustainability must go beyond the environment, and be a global concept that also enlarges the cultural and socio-economic side of the country”.
Finally, each of the people present at the breakfast also agreed on the consideration of the tourism industry as one of the essential pillars of the region and the trust on working together with the private and public sectors for its consolidation and diversification. Likewise, the need to harness the potential of the territory in matters of history, culture, gastronomy, natural beauty and fun has been noticeable.
