ALBA-TCP begins to live the dream of multi-destination tourism

By Daily Pérez Guillén

The Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America—People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), Jorge Arreaza, urged to move forward with concrete actions at the 7th Meeting of Tourism Ministers and High Authorities of the regional organization, held in Havana.

In line with Arreaza’s statement, the meeting concluded with a road map approved by the members of the organization, “In the spirit of consolidating prosperous tourism in the Latin American and Caribbean region,” and the commercialization of a multi-destination product.

In this regard, Cuba and Venezuela, through two of their travel agencies, negotiated such a product with the Chinese market. A team made up of Havanatur and Venetur personnel will make a technical visit on May 20, together with tour operators from the Asian giant, to promote the region’s demand.

In view of the realization of this travel modality by these two Latin American countries, Honduras also agreed to join the multi-destination options.

In order to encourage other nations to join the strategy and complement the offer with more products, new proposals will be presented at the next International Tourism Fair of Venezuela.

The final document stresses the importance of the incorporation of tourism agencies and private sector companies to promote the commercialization of these products.

It was also reported that a tour operator in the area presented a proposal to use its agency to market multi-destination options and incorporate others such as honeymoon, MICE and archeology tourism. Similarly, another operator presented its potential to market a cruise in the area through the appropriate platforms to achieve its positioning.

The authorities also agreed to create an impactful communication campaign and integrate the use of Artificial Intelligence in ALBA’s website, as an initiative to promote the destination.

To contribute to the training of human resources, Cuba and Venezuela will each offer two training scholarships in specialized tourism study centers starting next August.

Meanwhile, Antigua and Barbuda will work on the construction of common criteria for the process of quality certifications of tourism services and products and other associated products, given the nation’s experience in this area.

Cuba pledged to work on the possible implementation of cruise tourism among the countries of the bloc.

The minutes state that the airlines that participated in the technical roundtables discussed new connectivity opportunities and the generation of incentives for operations to reduce ticket costs in order to offer more competitive packages.

The ministers agreed to organize and hold the First ALBA-TCP International Tourism Fair in 2026.

The signatories agreed to define the concept and destinations, design attractive tourist packages, establish strategic alliances, optimize promotion and marketing, facilitate logistics and connectivity and guarantee sustainability and quality.

In his opening remarks, Arreaza pointed out the challenge of achieving multi-destination tourism, including the need for corresponding visa regulations, positioning of the regional brand and the drafting of a manual of good practices.

Meanwhile, Cuban Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García Granda, host of the meeting, reflected on the importance of moving forward together in the construction of joint strategies to transform tourism into an engine for the sustainable development of our nations, in a world marked by sanctions, crises, the effects of climate change and global economic challenges.

García Granda recalled that multi-destination tourism was a dream of Fidel, who envisioned, “Partners and brothers, not competitors,” in the region. In 1999, at a special meeting of CARIFORUM Heads of State and Government in the Dominican Republic, Fidel considered that, “Multi-destination toursim could well become the main engine of Caribbean integration. We could project ourselves to the world as the most attractive tourist destination, a unique and diverse destination that at the same time sets a good example in terms of preserving the environment and our natural resources.”