Candidates for the office of Mayor in the North Coast municipalities of Omoa, Tela, La Ceiba, Trujillo, Utila and Guanaja signed an agreement to continue supporting existing tourism development programs in those areas, in order to ensure the continuity of development in the region.
They also agreed create an alliance to work together to implement the Regional Tourism Strategy, already in place in the area.
The six participating municipalities are part of the Sustainable Coastal Tourism Development Project. They all have excellent tourism potential and are currently home to 26% of the country’s hotels. Under the new alliance – an initiative of the Honduran Institute of Tourism – they will improve road signs and tourism information signs throughout the region, carry out waste management studies, analyze how to take better advantage of existing recycling facilities, launch advertising campaigns and improve telecommunications and potable water systems.
At a meeting of mayoral candidates held in La Ceiba in June, Vice Minister of Tourism Eva Gomez rallied participants to strengthen joint efforts to promote progress in their communities. “The creation of this alliance will make it easier to gain the support of the central government and the international financial organizations in order to carry out projects of wide scope.”
Domingo Menjivar, current Omoa Mayor and candidate for reelection, says he and his fellow candidates are pleased to participate in the alliance because it will benefit not only the six participating communities, but the country in general. Working together, he says, is the way to better position the Honduran Caribbean in Central America.
By the end of this year, the alliance expects to obtain full legal standing (personeria juridica in local legal terms). In 2006 it will begin working with new local authorities, new financial programs and new municipal development projects
