Belize City, Belize – Thursday, July 19, 2012 – A contingent of four tourism delegates represented Belize at the 85th ordinary meeting of the Central American Tourism Council (CCT) on July 11th – 12th 2012. The series of meetings were held at the Hotel Camino Real in Managua, Nicaragua. The 85th Ordinary Meeting is a conference geared towards technical tourism meetings and a general meeting for the Tourism Ministers of Central America. Belize was represented by Tracy Panton and Valdemar Andrade of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Alyssa Carnegie and Lenny Ayuso of the BTB.
Participants discussed plans and projects related to enhancing the promotion of Central America as a tourist destination. Tracy Panton, CEO in the Ministry of Tourism and Culture shared, “One of the highlights of the meeting was the inauguration of the new CCT president, Nicaragua’s Minister of Tourism, Mario Salinas. On behalf of Dr. Nelly Jerez, past CCT President, and Minister of Tourism of Honduras, Cynthia Bennett Salomon, Tourism Vice Minister of Honduras presented the new President Mario Salinas with a plaque displaying the names of the past CCT Presidents.”
President Mario Salinas thereafter presented his plan expounding on how he would work to
continue the course of presenting the positive image of Central America. Other discussions included sustainable tourism, tourist security and the preparations being made for the Central America Travel Market (CATM) to be held in October, 2012 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, in which Belize will participate. Cinia Molina, Director of CATM from the Tourism Institute of Honduras (IHT) said, “CATM encourages the establishment of business relationships between Central American tourism service providers with major international wholesaler markets. It seeks to promote knowledge of the regions along with their diverse tourism products.”
The 85th CCT Meeting concluded on July 12th. Belize looks forward to participate in future meetings to promote Belize and Central America as a top tourist destination.
For more information on the CCT visit http://www.sica.int/cct/.
About the Belize Tourism Board
The Belize Tourism Board (BTB) is a statutory body within the Belize Ministry of Tourism, and it is governed by a Board of Directors appointed by the Minister of Tourism. The BTB works in conjunction with members of the private sector – including the Belize Hotel Association, Belize Tourism Industry Association and Belize National Tour Operators Association – and is dedicated to building tourism in the most economically and environmentally sustainable manner. As a part of its responsibilities, the BTB promotes Belize as a premier tourism destination to both in-country and international consumers. Among its outreach to the international travel market, the BTB markets the country’s unique attractions to travelers, members of the travel trade industry and media outlets in key markets.
The BTB is also dedicated to developing and implementing tourism programs that will help strengthen and grow the Belizean tourism industry; promote good destination stewardship; and instil high quality standards for accommodations and travel experiences. For more information on the BTB and its services, visit www.travelbelize.org.
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