A vacation in Honduras can conjure up visions of spectacular destinations: the Mayan ruins of Copán, cloud forest after cloud forest filled with exotic flora and fauna, the gorgeous beaches and the dolphin filled waters off the the island of Roatán.
But that's not what tourist industry reporters saw when the country's minister of tourism Ricardo Martínez presented a video at a recent convention in neighboring El Salvador. With a soundtrack of revolutionary music, it showed supporters of ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya clashing with riot police in the streets of the capital Tegucigalpa.
Martínez, who was ousted from the government along with Zelaya after the country's June 28 coup d'etat, was apologetic but unflinching about showing the video.
"I'd like to tell everyone to come to Honduras, and that it's a tranquil place and everything is beautiful, but you think I'd be successful with that message? Of course not."
Acting Honduran Tourism Minister Ana Abarca, appointed by the de facto government of Roberto Micheletti, and other representatives of Honduras' de facto tourism institute were prohibited from attending the Central American Travel Market, the region's largest international tourism tradeshow of the year.
Much of the world, including the U.S. and all of Honduras' neighbors, have refused to recognize the Micheletti regime.
Tourism was the country's main economic motor but since the coup, says Martínez, Honduras' tourism industry, which grew by a robust 9% in 2008, has plummeted 70%.
The 7% tourism growth projections for 2009 are now expected to dip into the red. And the 155,000 Hondurans employed by the tourism industry are, in the words of Martínez, "suffering violently."
Several TACA airlines flights to Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, which used to bring hundreds of tourists to Honduras every day, have been canceled. A project to build an international airport at the Copán ruins was suspended, and charter groups from Europe are backing out. Overall, it's estimated that Honduras' economy has been set back 10 years over the past three months.
To read full Time story — Go Here Now.
|
