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CENTRAL AMERICA |
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Honduras' Tourism Minister: "Don't Visit My
Country!"
By Tim Rogers / Time.com
A vacation in Honduras can conjure up
visions of spectacular destinations: the
Mayan ruins of Copán, cloud forest after
cloud forest filled with exotic flora and
fauna, the gorgeous beaches and the dolphin
filled waters off the the island of Roatán.
But that's not what tourist industry
reporters saw when the country's minister of
tourism Ricardo Martínez presented a video
at a recent convention in neighboring El
Salvador.
With a soundtrack of revolutionary music, it
showed supporters of ousted Honduran
president Manuel Zelaya clashing with riot
police in the streets of the capital
Tegucigalpa.
Martínez, who was ousted from the government
along with Zelaya after the country's June
28 coup d'etat, was apologetic but
unflinching about showing the video. "I'd
like to tell everyone to come to Honduras,
and that it's a tranquil place and
everything is beautiful, but you think I'd
be successful with that message? Of course
not." Acting Honduran Tourism Minister Ana
Abarca, appointed by the de facto government
of Roberto Micheletti, and other
representatives of Honduras' de facto
tourism institute were prohibited from
attending the Central American Travel
Market, the region's largest international
tourism tradeshow of the year. Much of the
world, including the U.S. and all of
Honduras' neighbors, have refused to
recognize the Micheletti regime.
Tourism was the country's main economic
motor but since the coup, says Martínez,
Honduras' tourism industry, which grew by a
robust 9% in 2008, has plummeted 70%. The 7%
tourism growth projections for 2009 are now
expected to dip into the red. And the
155,000 Hondurans employed by the tourism
industry are, in the words of Martínez,
"suffering violently." Several TACA airlines
flights to Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula,
which used to bring hundreds of tourists to
Honduras every day, have been canceled. A
project to build an international airport at
the Copán ruins was suspended, and charter
groups from Europe are backing out. Overall,
it's estimated that Honduras' economy has
been set back 10 years over the past three
months.
The military-backed regime has attempted to
prop up the collapsing industry by promoting
internal tourism. Working with resorts and
hotels on Roatán Island, a popular Caribbean
dive spot off of Honduras' northern coast,
the de facto tourism board is promoting
special two-for-one vacation deals. Many
Hondurans have taken the bait, flocking to
the white sands of Roatán and filling hotel
rooms that were once occupied by U.S. and
European travelers. Hondurans who support
the de facto regime, such as tour operator
Vilma Sauceda of Rema Tours, says the fact
that Honduran are "traveling like crazy" is
a sign of support for the Micheletti
government. She blames the drop in foreign
tourism on a "media conspiracy" and
"disinformation campaign" by Zelaya supports
who are trying to create chaos and undermine
the Micheletti government, which is not
recognized by any other country in the
world.
Martínez, however, thinks Hondurans are
traveling because of economics, not
political solidarity. "It's an opportunity
to see Roatán, which has always been
expensive for Hondurans," he said. And in
many ways, the ousted minister notes,
promoting internal tourism is the only
option the Micheletti government has, since
no one else will pay attention to them.
Despite Honduras' string of misfortunes,
Martínez remains optimistic that the
country's political situation will
normalize, and that tourism will help pull
it out of the hole. Several big projects,
such as Carnival Cruise Lines' tourism dock
under construction in Roatán, and a $15
million golf course beach resort in the
north of the country, are still moving
forward — a sign, Martínez says, of future
recovery. "it's a matter of recuperating our
international image, and I think that can
happen overnight — just the same way we
moved from positive to negative, we can jump
from negative to positive," he said
hopefully.
In the meantime, however, says Martínez, "We
are still a state without individual
guarantees. The police can come into your
house without court order, you can be
arrested without reason, and there's no
freedom of movement." He wants tourism to
come back to Honduras, just not on
Micheletti's watch. "I'm not saying I am
encouraging travel to Honduras, because I
have shown you that the situation [for
tourism] does not exist," Martínez told the
journalists in El Salvador. "But what I am
saying is please don't forget us, because we
are going to solve this crisis and once we
do, we are really going to need your help."
Honduran policemen stand at the entrance of
a hotel in Tegucigalpa as supporters of the
ousted President, Manuel Zelaya, shout
slogans on October 8.
GUSTAVO AMADOR / EPA |
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