Central American Tourism Fair in Guatemala

Guatemala played host this week to the first Central American Travel Market (CATM) that from now onward will take place on a yearly basis in each and every country of the region.

Tourism ministers from Belize, Panama and other Central American nations attended the two-day event designed to promote this nation as the region´s number-one travel destination.

The goal of the event was, too, to put Central America on the world travel industry’s radar screen and draw wholesalers that aren’t selling the region and want to be hipped on the destination and the products these countries have to offer.

The CATM is a technical and professional gathering in which all countries in the region will have the opportunity of establishing commercial ties with wholesalers from the globe’s major tourist-sending markets.

Presentations, press conferences and key promotional activities concurred with the arrival of Iberia´s first direct flight from Madrid to Guatemala, carrying a human cargo of travel authorities and news media correspondents.

These visitors toured sightseeing spots in Antigua Guatemala, the Tikal Archeological Center, Chichicastenango and Atitlan, where they reveled in a magnificent display of Mayan and local handicrafts.

The event was fully supported by the national tourism administrations and a group of companies represented in the Federation of Tourism Chambers, an organization made up of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. As a matter of fact, the latter will be home to the 2005 edition.

Central American countries are bent on advertising the whole region as a solid and highly competitive travel destination, let alone beefing up commercial ties between the participating nations and potential wholesalers, and launching new products and destinations within the subcontinent.

Organizers of this year’s CATM explained this was a major promotional effort within the regional integration process and a magnificent opportunity to unveil an assortment of cultural, natural and adventure tourism choices, as well as to present a highly competitive tourism infrastructure.