Honduras - CANATURH: International Tourism Day

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Oct. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The world is full of places with unique attractions, some that are the work of nature and others the product of human ingenuity and history, each one in its season like honey to bees, places to visit that are irresistible, and dreams that can sometimes come true through tourism.

But just as with coins, there are always two sides to the story, and from the point of view of the host, or creator of tourism, it is a complex world full of challenges, challenges that, once they have been tackled, should become features the tourist will enjoy and appreciate, making them a reason to return to a place, or to forget it for the rest of your life; and the fact is that tourism in its full extent is a bastion of development and progress for many countries, considering that 1 out of every 11 people around the world is working in this industry, and in the specific case of Honduras, it provides the livelihood for more than 300 thousand families, currently holding 4^th place in terms of cash generation for the country.  

The World Tourism Organization with its 27 member countries is celebrating September 27 as International Tourism Day, and will be holding sessions this year on "Tourism and community development," an issue of great importance, particularly in countries that have chosen tourism as a path to development. Honduras, for its part, has gone one step further by decreeing tourism to be a national priority and policy of state, and this presidential decree will make it possible to remove obstacles from the path that may have been neglected owing to other priorities, which can give rise to policies conducive to tourism and an unending series of benefits for this sector.  

A country of incredible natural riches that is known to possess them, with its seas, islands and reefs that are considered the hope of the Caribbean, the history of the pre-Hispanic world and the conquest, astonishing biodiversity and scores of features that render it unique, has decided to make the most of all this, using these resources intelligently and in harmony with the environment so that the whole world can enjoy them, and Hondurans can discover in tourism an instrument for progress and development.

But we're not just talking about coming events, we're also talking about successful ongoing experiences, such as on the islands of Roatan, Utilla and Guanaja, places where there are no farms or food production, where everything has to be shipped in for consumption, while at the same time where hundreds of thousands of tourists enjoy their vacations here, which is to say that supplying the needs of the tourists who come to these islands creates Jobs on the mainland where goods are produced and exported to the islands, becoming a source of employment that extends beyond the territorial range of the tourism industry; if we are speaking in terms of the local setting, the outlook is just as promising since the flow of tourists allows people to provide services or engage in tasks to make the tourist's stay comfortable, environmentally friendly businesses are developed, and a suitable setting for hospitality is created – altogether a "win-win proposition," as the saying goes, whereby communities can develop by making and protecting things that once were too easily laid waste, which have now become their source of life and development.

Lilian Lagos
Phone: (504) 2232-1927
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.canaturh.org / honduras.travel

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SOURCE Honduran National Chamber of Tourism - CANATURH