Honduras to Develop Ethnic Tourism
Honduras will promote ethnic tourism, as this industry became third largest source of hard currency for Honduras in 2005, surpassing bananas and coffee, reported Jamaica-based Positive Tourism News on Monday.

Based on data posted by Green Travel Digest, in 2005 the tourism industry generated $431 million in revenues for Honduras.

Three of the Central American country´s most dynamic tourism destinations, Copan Ruinas, Roatan and Tela Bay, have high concentrations of Maya Chorti, Afro-Caribbean and Garifuna population, respectively.

Nevertheless, members of these ethnic groups have relatively little participation in the tourism industry, other than providing employees.

In that direction, the project backed by the MIF, autonomous fund managed by the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB), will be carried out by CARE International, seeking to establish three networks of enterprises owned by members of the three communities.

The project will provide technical assistance or microcredit to some 500 minority-owned businesses and train 45 people as tourism trainers. Minority-owned enterprises will be encouraged to cooperate on common challenges such as marketing, procurement, training and access to credit.

The Inter-American Development Bank's Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) today announced the approval of a $1,373,386 grant for a project to promote the participation of businesses owned by ethnic minorities in the Honduran tourism industry.