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Region’s Tour
Operators Form Federation
(InfoWebPress) – Central America’s tour
operators now have an umbrella organization
that brings them together and supports them.
It is the Federation of Central American
Tour Operators Associations (FACOT), which
has filed papers that legally accredit it as
the entity representing all tour operators
from the region.
The official constitution of the federation
took place at an event held during the
group’s third regular meeting, March 20 at
the Costa Rican Tourism Institute’s (ICT)
auditorium. Attending the activity were
representatives of the seven countries that
make up FACOT: The Guatemalan Tour Operators
Association (ASOPTUR), the Salvadoran Tour
Operators Association ASOTUR), Receptive
Tour Operators of Honduras (OPTUH), the
Nicaraguan Association of Receptive Tourism
(ANTUR), The Panamanian Tour Operators
Association (APOTUR), Belize National Tour
Operators Associations (BNTOA), and the
Costa Rican Tour Operators Association (ACOT).
Present at the meeting were association
presidents and owners or representatives of
the area tour operators. Thanks to the new
federation, this industry will be able to
join efforts in issues such as Central
American integration and development of
tourism products that combine various
aspects of the region, which are two of
FACOT’s main objectives.
“The importance of this new accreditation is
that it has international economic support
for training, forums, meetings and other
efforts that will benefit the Central
American tour operator sector, so that it
can provide a standard of quality to those
who visit us,” said FACOT’s president,
Alejandro Villalobos. “In this way, with our
seven countries united, we will be able to
provide the market a package of services
that would invite tourists to see the
marvels that each of these countries
offers.”
Villalobos pointed out that it is necessary
to establish alliances in the context of the
current global economic crisis, when the
recovery of tourism sector businesses
becomes a key task. “Each tour operators
association is bringing up this topic
through a single Central American forum,
FACOT, so that the world would see us as a
more consolidated and organized bloc,
offering excellence in the services that
potential tourists would seek and taking
advantage that Central America is now a
single tourist destination,” he said.
The federation’s goal is to bring regional
tourism to the international market, since
approximately 250 tour operators, including
receptive travel agencies and direct tour
operators, are now part of FACOT — which was
formed 14 years ago was only formally
registered last year in Guatemala City.
Other goals of the federation, Villalobos
said, include creating tourism products that
combine the famous Colonial Route and the
region’s many volcanoes, offering such
products to the international market
(Europe, Asia, South America and the United
States) at competitive prices. Additionally,
the FACOT president indicated that his group
dreams with selling to other markets, such
as the Arab countries, that have great
economic potential.
The Colonial and Volcanoes Route is a
project being developed by all seven nations
in Central America, which includes 53
destinations (26 volcanoes and 27 colonial
cities in 91 municipalities) and seeks to
promote tourism, generate employment,
improve the region’s quality of life,
protect the environment, and preserve
cultural heritage sites.
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