PRESS RELEASE
Belize Hosts CIX Ordinary Meeting of the Central American Council of Tourism Ministers, and XIII Ordinary Meeting of the Central American Tourism Promotion Agency
Ambergris Caye, October 22nd, 2018. Hon. Manuel Heredia, Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation, hosted the CIX Ordinary Meeting of the Central American Council of Tourism Ministers (C.C.T., for its Spanish equivalent), as well as, the XII Ordinary Meeting of the Central American Tourism Promotion Agency (C.A.T.A., for its Spanish equivalent), in North Ambergris Caye, during the week of October 15th- October 19th, 2018.
As the President Pro-Tempore of the Central American System for Tourism Integration (S.I.T.C.A., for its Spanish Equivalent), Hon. Manuel Heredia and a joint team of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Belize Tourism Board hosted over 40 participants from Central America and the Dominican Republic at a series of technical meetings leading up to the Ministerial Meetings of Tourism Ministers of the Central American Integration System (S.I.C.A, for its Spanish equivalent) region, held on October 17th, 2018.
Minister Heredia expressed that it is an honour to serve as President of the C.C.T., and President of the Board of Directors of C.A.T.A. during the period July to December 2018, and reiterated Belize’s commitment to advancing the collective goals of the Central American Region and the Dominican Republic in promoting multi-destination travel and intra-regional tourism. In addition, Minister Heredia proposed the integration of Climate Change and Climate Resilience as a key development factor for tourism in the SICA region, as well as, iterated Belize’s ongoing commitment to continue building the region’s digital presence in the global tourism market.
The CIX Meeting of the CCT also saw Belize being host to the official launch of a long-term credit financing mechanism for Tourism Micro-, Small-, and Medium Enterprises, called PROMITUR; a partnership between SITCA and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration. At the Ministerial Meetings, the SICA countries also began officially the process to develop a new Five-Year Tourism Strategic Plan for the region in earnest, expressing their commitment to Sustainable Tourism Development.
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