I would like to impose on our long correspondence to forward a press
release by the Nicaraguan Association of In-Bound Tour Operators. The issue
it raises is crucial for the long-term development of Nicaragua, and its
recovery from the disaster caused by Hurricane Mitch. I would also like to
add that the majority of the most interesting nature/ecotour areas were
also undamaged by Mitch. As I have mentioned to a few of you before, in
spite of the undeniable suffering caused by this devastating hurricane, the
Olive Ridleys are still nesting at La Flor, the parakeets still swarm the
visitor in Chocoyero, the howlers still yell at passersby in Chacocente,
and the caymen still eye you as a potential snack from the banks of the Rio
Bartola.. And next March, the quetzales will still be nesting in El Arenal.
The best thing that could be done for the future of this country is to find
ways of convincing travelers NOT to stay away in droves.
-----------------------
NICARAGUA'S TOURISM UNHARMED AND DEVASTATED
MANAGUA - Despite the fact that 95% of Nicaragua's tourism infrastructure
was spared by the Mitch disaster, the fallout from the images beamed around
the world have sent shock waves through the industry here. Tourism, the
third most important industry in Nicaragua's fragile economy, has
experienced a near complete shut down. The fear of disease and of a rivers
filled with corpses, has led to thousands of cancellations to scheduled
visits during the industry's high winter season and has Nicaragua's tour
operators, restaurants, hotels and local artisans without income and looking
at the future with fear.
After the revolution in the 70's and the contra war of the 80's, Nicaragua
became the black sheep of Central American tourism with its more than 70
nature parks and numerous Pacific and Caribbean beaches left empty. Despite
this, during the last three years leading up to the Mitch crisis, Nicaragua
was experiencing a boom of hotel construction and an annual tourism growth
of over 70%. Now with graphic images of suffering and destruction imprinted
in the minds of the world's travelers, the country's tour operators are
uniting in a common cause to save their industry. To try to lessen Mitch's
potentially fatal long terms effects, the Nicaraguan Association of
Receptive Tour Operators (ANTUR) on initiative from Richard Leonardi, owner
of Managua based tour operator TOURS NICARAGUA, and with the support of the
Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism (INTUR), has organized a press trip for the
many varied international media here covering the post-Mitch aid process.
According to Leonardi, "We don't wish to downplay the disaster in any way,
for we all feel the suffering of our people, but the touristic parts of
Nicaragua have escaped the disaster unharmed as the effected areas are far
from the country's many ecotourism and cultural tourism spots. Now is the
time that we must try to show the flowers amongst the stones, for the sake
of our industry and Nicaragua's shaky economic future."
The most popular and traditional tourist routes from Managua south to the
active Masaya Volcano, the famous artisans market in Masaya, the colonial
city of Granada, the 354 island archipelago of Las Isletas in Lake
Nicaragua, the dual volcano island of Ometepe and the Pacific beaches of San
Juan del Sur all fell well outside the disaster region. However, these
important visitor spots are now reeling from the publicity fallout of the
disaster and running at less than 10% capacity thanks to a worldwide fear of
visiting Nicaragua. After visiting with many small tourism related
industries like the ceramic artisan village of San Juan del Oriente in
Nicaragua's central valley, Leonardi relates, "Nicaragua's tourism is seeing
a slow strangulation of many small businesses by this disaster. We must try
our best to demonstrate the complete picture of the country's condition, so
that thousands of people employed and living off Nicaragua's tourism
business will not lose their ability to feed their families". With the
world's television and newspaper companies wrapping up two weeks of
transmitting images of death and destruction from the country's northern
disaster zones, the task ahead for Nicaragua's tour industry, despite the
lack of damage to its infrastructure, is a daunting one.
-----------------------
Warmest regards,
Tom Fletcher
Ecotourism International of Nicaragua, S.A.
einsa@ibw.com.ni