UN Tourism's Regional Director for the Americas, Gustavo Santos, informed today that the Cuban beach resort of Varadero will host an important meeting of the travel sector.
During an interview with the European publication Travel Trade Caribbean (TTC), the official said that the 69th Meeting of the Regional Commission for the Americas (CAM) and the Seminar: Enhancing tourism development through innovation in community-based tourism (April 29-30) will be held in Varadero.
He pointed out that the meeting corresponds to the meeting of the UN Tourism Regional Commission for the Americas, when they expect to meet with representatives of the 26 countries that make up the region and the two Associate Members, as well as representatives of the private sector.
He said that although this is a statutory meeting, it is the time to work on the priorities identified, which are related to connectivity, sustainability, empowerment of women and youth, and development of products such as gastronomy and rural tourism.
During the meeting, the second Amadeus report on Travel Trends 2024 in the Americas region will be presented.
As part of the meeting, they will hold the Seminar: Empowering tourism development through innovation in community tourism, which -together with the Ministry of Tourism of Cuba (Mintur)- will be an opportunity to learn about best practices in innovation and investment in local communities, human capital, biodiversity and infrastructure.
It will also allow the search for sustainable alternatives to strengthen community tourism and entrepreneurship for the development of tourism experiences.
He said that today all human activities must be rethought in terms of sustainability. For that reason, since September 27, 2023, World Tourism Day, they are aiming at that philosophy.
He explained that Cuba particularly offers a wonderful sea to enjoy all year round, colonial cities with unique charm, a capital whose historic center is a World Heritage Site and where music invades the streets of Old Havana, in addition to the warmth and friendliness of its people.
He pointed out that the region of the Americas is potentially one of the regions that can grow the most in terms of tourism in the coming years.
He clarified that the region needs to be better connected. In this sense, it is essential to work to consolidate an air-commercial connectivity network by getting more airlines and more frequencies to link destinations.
In this sense, in association with IATA (The International Air Transport Association), they seek to promote the improvement of connectivity in the region and the expansion of routes to favor multi-destination tourism and intra-regional circulation.
In addition, the establishment of the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will focus on strengthening investment promotion, especially promoting green investments, and developing a strategy for education and training, especially for young people.
He stated that they have already achieved several objectives, such as the creation of the First Observatory of Tourism Law in Latin America and the Caribbean of the UNWTO.
They are developing, he said, with the support of CAF (Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean), the Tourism Investment Guides, which are documents indicating opportunities and incentives.
So far, investment guides have been presented for the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay, and with Cuba, they are working on their own, as well as with Peru, Honduras and El Salvador.