ASICOTUR Makes a Presentation at ANATO 2021

Caribbean News Digital Newsroom

The International Association of Tourism Cooperation (ASICOTUR) made a presentation within the framework of the Vitrina Turística de ANATO, which took place successfully in Bogota, Colombia, between June 16 and 18, marking the beginning of the reopening of the leisure industry in the South American country.

The ASICOTUR presentation, held at Argentina's stand, was attended by Pablo Sismanian, director of Tourism Products of Argentina's Ministry of Tourism and Sports; Ricardo Ramírez, representative of Asicotur in Colombia; Andrés López Valderrama, executive president of Corferias and honorary president of AFIDA; Thelma Gómez, Director of External Relations, Tourism, Logistics and Protocol Affairs of Fenalco; Mario Cajiao, President of AFIDA and Vice President of Planning and Corporate Affairs of Corferias; and Camila Delgado, Executive Director of AFIDA.

The International Association of Tourism Cooperation (ASICOTUR), based in Spain and with global projection, was officially launched last December in response to the need -as indicated by its promoters- to vindicate cooperation and the promotion of one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic.

The association was created with the aim of committing the participation of its members to collaborate in the creation and promotion of tourism development projects, connecting public administrations, institutions and companies, and intends to position itself as a catalyst for the transfer of good practices, knowledge and tourism technology, aware of the importance of contributing to solidarity actions that improve the competitiveness of destinations and companies in the sector.

The board of directors, made up of representatives from eight Latin American countries, is led by Alejandro Rubín, current executive vice-president of the Order of the Camino de Santiago, who has been collaborating with numerous tourism entities, both in the field of religious tourism and in the niches of health and gastronomic tourism. 

Together with him, the general secretary will be the former secretary of Tourism of Galicia and university professor Carmen Pardo; while the vice-president will be Jesús F. Ares, president of the Association of Incoming Tour Operators of Galicia. Rounding out the board of directors are Manuel Mora Lourido from the Canary Islands; Gilmar Piolla from Brazil; Rafael Roldan from Ecuador; Jose Carlos de Santiago, president of the Excelencias Group; Veronica Napuri from Peru; Jose Carlos de Riojas from Mexico; Pablo Rivera Bua from Portugal and Ricardo Ramirez from Colombia.

The goals of this international grouping are focused on fostering cooperation among destinations, including assistance projects such as development cooperation processes; fostering the transfer of tourism knowledge; reaching consensus and recommending guidelines on sustainability, inclusion and responsibility in the world of tourism; supporting national, regional or local governments in terms of planning; sharing successful tourism management results to inspire other destinations or issuing manuals on topics of interest in the countries in which they operate.