Q & A with Martin MaluendesChief of the South America Department at Trayecto Uno (Travel Agency)

by Jose Carlos de Santiago

Mr. Maluendes Works for a tour operator that strongly believes Central America has a lot to offer in the realm of multi-destination. He aired his views on this and other issues in a recent conversation with Caribbean News Digital during the past Central America Travel Market.

CND: Will you briefly explain to us what your company is all about?

MM: It´s an Argentine tour operator headquartered in Buenos Aires and branched out in two sections. On the one hand, it deals with the Caribbean and Mexico, while the other section embraces Central America and South America.

CND: Is this your first time at the Central America Travel Market?

MM: That´s right, this our first time. I think it´s been quite a good experience and the planning of the event has been great.

CND: How long have you been involved in selling Central America as a travel destination?

MM: We´ve been in the business for quite some time. Central America is a well-known destination for Argentineans, though not in a massive way. Costa Rica is by far the best-selling Central American destination in Argentina, followed by Panama. Honduras is penciled in as an expensive destination in Central America, yet it´s alluring, especially when it comes to the history and the Roatan squares. Those are places that Argentineans will love to come to in the future.

CND: How many employees is your company made up of?

MM: Our travel agency has been around for a year and a half. All of its members are former tour operators from Argentina. Right now, there are eleven of us and we´re mostly stationed across the Caribbean Basin, not in Central America. We have reps in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, St. Martin, Aruba, Mexico and in the U.S. As a new trend, Argentineans are looking for new destinations, including some in Central America.

CND: Do you think the creation of a solid travel destination, like Central America, is a good idea?

MM: Absolutely. I believe Central America is destined to be the heftiest travel destination of all because as solid bloc they have a whole lot more to offer. That´s, to me, to most laudable outcome about this event, I mean, to see all those counties seeing eye to eye in piecing together this major world-class event. I think a couple of years from now this is going to be a much bigger tradeshow.