Ministers of Tourism of Central America and the Dominican Republic reaffirm their commitment to boosting regional tourism

Ministers of Tourism of Central America and the Dominican Republic reaffirm their commitment to boosting regional tourism
Santo Domingo, 05/02/2014

Through various regional projects, the ministries of tourism of Central America and the Dominican Republic redouble efforts in favor of the sector, to allow it to grow in 2014.

The XCII Regular Meeting of the Central American Tourism Council (CCT) ended on Thursday, April 30th. The participating ministries reiterated their commitment to continue advancing their joint plans and projects to promote regional tourism, both within the isthmus, as well as in international markets.

Together, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic, prepare the X edition of the Central American Travel Market (CATM 2014) to be held on October 9 and 10 in Costa Rica. This meeting will be attended by over 200 tourism businesses from the region and more than 150 wholesale buyers from Europe and Asia.

The Ministers also reiterated the launching of the “Discover Central America” ??campaign, held this week in the various countries. The campaign has received a USD$225,000 joint investment from the governments and Avianca to promote intra-regional tourism. This investment includes airfares and vacation packages with discounts up to 40%, as well as joint promotional and advertising campaign contributions. The campaign will run from April 28 to May 15, for travel between May 1st and June 20th, with airfare from US$249 (tax included) to and from any Central American destination.

Adding to these promotional efforts, the CCT also highlighted the support it has been receiving from the Swiss Cooperation to strengthen regional tourism SMMEs via various projects that are being implemented through the Secretariat of Central American Tourism Integration (SITCA) and the Federation of Tourism Chambers of Central America (FEDECATUR). This is an important support that is on the verge of ending and which has provided Central America with the tools for electronic marketing (web and App) and for the promotion of tourism enterprises; a seal of quality as a world class “Best Service”; an inventory of the main tourist destinations in each of the countries; a team of experts in quality of tourism SMMEs; as well as a long-term plan and project portfolio for FEDECATUR to benefit the tourism entrepreneurship in Central America.

The XCII Regular Meeting of the Central American Tourism Council (CCT) ended by thanking the government of the Dominican Republic for its hospitality, and assessing as very positive for the region’s integration efforts that are being made ??during this first year of its pro tempore period, during which they are now full members of this regional council.