Tourism Sector Awaits New Travelers to Honduras

Excerpt:

“On the morning that the Honduran president was deposed, Flavia Cueva roused a wedding party of 30 and whisked them out of her jungle eco-resort. Still hazy from the previous night’s party, which involved a mariachi band, fireworks and a shaman-led wedding ceremony held above ancient Mayan limestone ruins, the partiers made a hasty exit.”

“For Ms. Cueva, a Honduran-American who has spent the past decade turning her parents’ cattle ranch into a getaway featuring yoga classes, horseback rides and Mayan food for a modern palate, the political turmoil in Honduras has had a calamitous effect on bookings.”

“It’s taken me 10 years to put this place on the map, one step at a time,” she said, sipping wine on her veranda overlooking the Ruins at Copan. “This has been the kiss of death.” See NY Times Article


5 Responses to "Tourism Sector Awaits New Travelers to Honduras"

  1. gonow  November 4, 2009 at 8:39 pm

    axel………….wel said you are a very good spokes person for the realeties off honduras i believe ones mell is a… thing…of the past things will change fast there was a lot of negative press but at that same time many many people said where is this place called honduras. your country should built on that .there is a great future ahead at my age i only regret that i did not learn about honduras years agoo……….

  2. Axel Reyes Bogran  November 4, 2009 at 6:21 pm

    I have been working on and developing a plan to work with the “Tourism Industry” of Honduras for several years already, its timing based on when I reach a certain age, once that # of years has come, I will start making this happen. So you can only imagine how scary all of this thing with that traitor, Zelaya, has been for me.

    The time Hurricane Mitch came around, it blew away my first attempt at taking this off the ground, for on that very same weekend I was to make a trip to consult with Honduran Hotels & ground transportation companies in order to move a group of Tourists around the country, taking them to some of the most saleable atractions that Honduras had to offer at the time.

    I had then to regroup, wait for the roads and bridges to be rebuilt, only to watch the groups of gang members known as the “Maras” practically take over the country, mainly thanks to the misguided efforts of Dr. Custodio, whom while trying to protect the rights of many Hondurans who had already made the decision to ignore the rights of many other of their countrymen, forgot to protect the law abiding and hardworking citizens that were being victimized by those same thugs whose rights he was so effectivelly protecting.

    It is not right to expect the American Consular warning to change if we as Honduras do not take the initiative to make our country safer, for us as well as for the visitors.

    It seems as if one of the problems we face is the tolerance that Hondurans have developed for living surrounded by crime.

    The agencies in charge of making the Industry of Tourism grow in our country have to realize that it is not really possible to expect people who live in countries where the streets are safe, (unless you choose to go and walk in a neigbourhood which is obviously unsafe), to come to a place where visitors (as well as locals) have to be off the streets by nightfall, or ask for those prospective tourists to leave their cammeras at home, since they present themselves as targets if they carry them around, and they are not safe in the Hotel room because the staff may steal them then, how would them then take pictures and memmories back home with them, and show other peopel how beutiful the place where they were at is.

    No my fellow Honduras, trying to cover the sun with our thumb wont fix the problem.

    We have to work very hard at making our country attractive to people that are more than willing to go out of their way to enjoy being close to nature, to be able to enjoy the fabulous Maya ruins of Copan City, to go to Tela and find one of the 3 largest Botanical Gardens in the World, which is now known as Lancetilla, and we can not forget all the diving and fishing that can be enjoyed in the waters of our Caribbean Coast beaches and deep holes.

    Honduras, it is time for us to wake up to one great reality:

    For us to properly market our beautiful and rich natural flora and fauna to the Tourism Industry we have to play along with the World Market, and that market does not demmand of its consumers to tolerate crime and lackluster service, they excell at atracting that customer the first time, and work even harder at guaranteeing a return.

    So lets put our efforts toguether, if we can take a firm stand against the political abuses of people like Chavez and Zelaya, fixing our crime problems should not be much more difficult, we have already showed our capacity to bring necessary change to fruition, and also the certainty that we do not have to live under the stink of fear, if we do not fear Chavez, why should we live in fear of those thugs that have taken over our streets.

    Lets make it happen, let us bring our country into the 21 century, both by calendar dates as well as living as if we are in it, a part of it.

  3. gonow  November 3, 2009 at 7:55 am

    triple tango…………..having the former tourist minister from honduras telling people ….. ”don’t visit my country ”….was a very bad thing it was even on tv here in canada …….good news is not news..i gues…….

  4. gonow  November 2, 2009 at 9:30 pm

    i am sure as soon as the new president is elected and mel fitted in a nice new suit with those wide horizontal stripes ,; honduras tourist business will very fast get better than ever ….some advertising mainly safety is always on top of the list of tourists …….i will spend more time in honduras this winter with a extended trip to copan .it is getting cold here in canada now already……..

  5. Al  November 2, 2009 at 2:42 pm

    TripleTango, relax. We still don’t know what Congress is going to do. Don’t lose hope!

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