Destination Honduras: We’re on a Mission!

Several thousand Salvadoran tourists visited Honduras’ tourist destinations, including Tegucigalpa, the North Coast (the Honduran Caribbean) and Copan, for the annual ‘Vacaciones Agostinas’ as they are known in Central America. 2008 surpassed, by 22 percent, the number of visitors of 2007.

Projected numbers were exceeded as 17,000 of our neighbors traveled here, and in preparation, the Honduran Tourism Ministry spent thousands on an aggressive media campaign. The most frequently visited locales were the world famous Copán Ruins with hotel occupation running at 85 percent, Tegucigalpa and surrounding areas, Roatán in the Bay Islands and San Pedro Sula.

A massive number of Ministry of Tourism personnel, Honduran Tourism Police, and Security Ministry employees worked together in those areas of the highest concentration of tourists to provide safety and to welcome the influx of Salvadoran travelers. An increase in the number of customs agents in El Poy and El Amatillo also provided a more expedient process at the border. These operatives included the delivery of information at the tourist destinations, access information to the best roads and road conditions, and assurances of security and safety to facilitate upon their arrival to their vacation sites.

Many international publications touted Honduras as a terrific tourist destination. According to the Ministry of Tourism L723,852 was spent on promoting Honduras as a desirable vacation destination, also playing up its close proximity to El Salvador. All indications are that the numbers far exceeded expectations, in terms of Salvadorans seeking out their neighbor for their August sojourn.

At HTW, we are committed to not only report the good, bad and the ugly about Honduras, but we also take special care to accentuate the positive of this country, rich in natural beauty, friendly people and endless variety. Readers can turn to the daily newspapers for their daily dose of bad news; we are thrilled to be able to report the progress being made here, including the exciting (and expanding) world of travel and tourism.

We want backpackers to know about Utila, we want sailors to know about the incredible cruise ship development on Roatan, we want history buffs to know of the significant and beautiful Mayan ruins in Copan, we want nature buffs to know about the cloud forest of La Tigre in Tegucigalpa, we want those simply interested in a world far away about the small, colonial towns and villages throughout the country. We are proud of this country and its many offerings.

Every August, Salvadorans prove that we are doing something right.
Now, we want the rest of the world to find out. We’re on a mission!

Dear HTW:

We would like to see an update of upcoming missions and brigades going to Honduras. You have been good about printing them, but we are due an update as we haven’t seen a current schedule in a few months. Didn’t someone mention Sudoku as well? I personally know of five or six people who would read the paper just for Sudoku.

We look forward to reading the paper. We access it online but have friends and family who also find the hard copy in Tegucigalpa.

They tell us that sometimes it is very difficult/impossible to find copies. Are there locations that we don’t know about?

Sincerely,

Gina Turner
Asheville, North Carolina, USA
via e-mail

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