In this context, Travel2latam spoke with Boris Hiraeta, Marketing Manager of Corsatur, Salvadoran Tourism Corporation , and new Secretary General of CATA, Tourism Promotion Agency of Central America.
What has been the experience of coming to promote Central American destinations at the WTM?
Well, hello everyone. It has been very good. We've been here three days, now two and a half days. We are halfway through the third and we have had a quite interesting turnout, a somewhat small stand but it has had a quite interesting turnout. We have brought a photo booth with photos so that people can have background, landscapes of the region, landscapes of Central America and there has been a line of people here who have wanted to have them taken, so we have had a very good turnout. We have also had contacts with buyers, and contacts with international media, British media that have also helped us amplify the message from Central America and also contacts that we took with us to transfer to our DMCs in Central America so that they can then do business with our buyers with the that we have talked about.
Well, two questions. One is that you have started your work within Visit Centroamérica. I wanted to know what your goals were and what your perception is about what's coming next year.
Well, next year good things are coming, we are going to have a fair, the main one in Central America, Central America Travel Market, for which we are inviting, which will be next April. And the short-term objectives are easy, there are two of them. Continue positioning the Central American brand in European markets, and then create spaces for that product to be marketed, with which we want to bring European buyers closer to tour operators and DMCs in Central America so that they can sell their regional packages. What we sell, unlike individual countries, is that we sell regional packages. We have tour operators who start a day in Belize and end in Nicaragua, or we have tour operators who start a day in Panama and end in the Dominican Republic. Therefore, those are our clear objectives. Continue positioning the brand and creating spaces for the product to be marketed, so that tour operators can sell their packages.
Tell me a little more about that event. When is made? Where is it done? If it is defined.
In El Salvador, from April 15 to 18, we are inviting wholesale buyers to go to El Salvador to learn about the product. There is specific information that is on the website that is centroamericatravelmarket.com. You can then search for information and register. The idea is that they go to Central America, they are going to see pre-tours so they can get to know El Salvador and then post-tours so they can get to know the rest of Central America. Central American operators are going to gather in El Salvador for three days and the idea is that they can have meetings with buyers who arrive and visit us.