Analyse of the sector 29/11/2010

Travel alert to Honduras issued by US State Department

As a result of the 2009 political crisis and subsequent coup d’etat in Honduras, there have recently been frequent demonstrations throughout the country and roadblocks are in place in the main cities. The borders with El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua have been intermittently closed and the armed forces have been on the streets, creating an unsafe environment for potential travellers, who have subsequently decided not to travel to this country. A travel alert was issued by the US State Department, which recommended that US travellers exercise extreme caution when travelling within Honduras. This travel alert expired in December 2009.

 

Decline in tourism arrivals due to global recession

 

Subject to various external shocks, Honduras is one of the poorest countries in the Americas. Due to the recent economic crisis, arrivals experienced negative growth during 2009 as the main inbound source countries such as the US, El Salvador and Guatemala have been seriously affected by the crisis. Although financial analysts say that the recession has already bottomed out in the US, experts agree that countries that are dependent on the US economy such as Honduras will have a slower recovery. The recovery of travel and tourism in Honduras from the impact of the global recession is expected to start in 2010.

 

International promotion through the Honduras brand

 

The Honduras Tourism Institute (HTI) is the entity in charge of promoting tourist development in Honduras. The authorities are working on promoting Honduras in foreign countries and attracting tourists from different potential markets such as Europe, which has shown an increase of 73% in arrivals since 2004. The HTI is promoting the country through the Honduras brand with the slogan ‘Honduras: everything is here’. Honduras is expected to become more deeply involved in overseas promotional activity and to join forces with other Central American countries to promote the region as a whole, highlighting the main tourist attractions in the country, such as the Tela, Utila and las Islas de la Bahía (the Bay Islands).

 

Public and private investment kit as a key for sustainable tourism

 

Sustainable tourism is a strategy pursued by the Tourism Secretary and the HTI, with the main objectives of strengthening tourist activities in Honduras and developing and diversifying the country’s travel and tourism products and destinations. To achieve this, the Tourism Secretary and HTI have been working on an ‘investment kit’. Los Micos Beach and Golf Resort is currently the highest priority investment and expects to attract more tourists to the country and, according to some experts, this project will be the platform for the launch of large-scale tourism in the region and will directly or indirectly generate more than 12,000 jobs.