Q & A with Ricardo Martinez, Honduras Tourism Minister

As a follow-up to the opinions on the Central America Travel Market that we posted in the Outlook section on Monday, Caribbean News Digital is bringing on this exclusive interview with Honduran tourism minister Ricardo Martinez, who voiced some view of his own about this event held in Costa Rica.

Q.- Within the framework of this tradeshow, our team has interviewed most members of the Honduran delegation to this event. Their opinions on this fair are really tough. What about yours?
A.- I believe Costa Rica is tapping into some new ways of conducting travel and tourism. For instance, I heard the President of the Costa Rican Tourism Chamber announce that wholesalers were free to pick their own contacts around the fair, rather than the prearranged appointment concept that was originally laid out for this event. That has certainly annoyed some attendants, especially among those tour operators coming to this place for the first time to offer their products and services. I assume their business contacts here have not been as productive as they would have expected.

However, in general terms the fair has met its goals. It brought in over 130 wholesalers lodged in 122 booths, and several operators from my country are pleased with the things they’ve done and the deals they’ve cut.

Q.- Do you think that the gap between Honduras and Costa Rica is finally bridged by now, that your fellow operators didn’t put Costa Rica under fire in retaliation for the flak they took when they hosted the fair last year?
A.- I don’t think this is in retaliation. On the contrary, Honduras came to this edition of CATM in Costa Rica with a large delegation. We’re simply making good on our commitment to Central America with a view to promote the region as a solid travel destination. I just believe Costa Rica has its own style of doing business.

Q.- Is Honduras willing to further consider the European market as a feasible possibility? Is the country going to pay more heed to, say, the Spanish and Russian outbound markets?
A.- The kind of attention we could pay to those markets hinges on airlift. With that view in mind, the Honduran Tourism Department is anteing up $100,000 to come up with concrete proposals. We want to show that, in the case of Spain, the market is large enough to justify an airlift increase, not only nonstop flights towards Honduras, but also air connections with other countries in the region. For example, we’re contemplating a Madrid-San Pedro Sula-San Salvador route, two Central American cities with no direct flights out of Spain.

We’re working hard to step up the number of flights from countries like Spain and Italy. Airlift from the U.S. has also been on the rise lately. As far as the Russian market is concerned, we’re not putting so many thoughts into it right now because we want to home in on those markets that are closer to us in terms of traditional travelers. If we manage to increase the airlift out of Europe, then we’ll be in a position to raise the bar in terms of budget for marketing and promotion.