With an investment of $70 million, the construction of the Carnival’s cruise terminal on the island of Roatán is 80% complete.
The developers of Carnival’s pier hope to finish the Project by September.
According to Laprensahn.com, “The Project–which covers 75,000 square feet, includes a commercial area being built to quality specifications that enable it to withstand earthquakes and hurricanes-was visited by international representatives of the cruise industry that have been on the island since the weekend with the purpose of attending the meeting of the Federation of Cruise Lines of the Caribbean and Florida, FCCA.
The recent incidents have led the Secretary of Tourism to prepare a plan for the development of this tourist destination.
The Minister of Tursimo, Ricardo Martínez, said that among the tasks in the plan is the improvement of security on the island as well as an increase in the number of police.
Laprensahn.com published the Minister’s comments: "The plan seeks to implement a Labor Relations Office for complaints and solve children’s problems such as begging and delinquency. The plan also provides professional training programs for personnel working in the hotels on the island."
Protests by the island’s inhabitants, which culminated last Saturday, caused a nearly $1 million in losses from cruise cancellations.
After reaching an agreement with Honduran Tourism authorities, the inhabitants of Roatán ended the protests and cruise ships returned to the island.
Ricardo Martinez, Tourism Minister, told Elheraldo.hn: "The demonstrators called for the government’s cooperation in preventing the hiring of cheap labor on the island because some contractors hire people from other places, but we cannot do anything because migration is not a crime but a right."
Cruise ships are canceling their arrivals to the Honduran island because they are unable to operate due to local workers' protests that block the port.
Each cruise ship brings about 300 tourists who spend $74 per day, on average. Yesterday, Wednesday, the cruise ship, “Carnival Valor," canceled its arrival and another of these ships canceled today.
With more than 200 tourists on board, a cruise ship docked in Trujillo Port, in the Honduran Caribbean, for the first time.
Ricardo Martinez, Minister of Tourism, informed Laprensahn.com: "We are planning to exceed the 430 thousand cruise passengers that were received in the whole country last year and at least reach 450 thousand which means more than 160 arrivals by 15 companies.
Beginning in June, Blue Panorama Airlines will operate a weekly charter flight between Rome and the Roatan Island in the Honduran Caribbean.
According to a report in the Proceso Digital website, the Honduran Tourism Minister, Ricardo Martinez, stated: "The new agreement with Blue Panorama was reached during the International Tourism Exchange in Milan, which was held last week.
At the International Tourism Fair inaugurated today in London, Central America is projecting itself as a combined brand.
On Opening Day of the World Travel market where nations from around the world present their tourism offer, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama share the same presentation and the same purpose: to become a "valuable combination for foreign markets" and take advantage of the fact that "European visitors want to see more than one country" when they fly such a long distance.
Countries in the region are trying to sell themselves as a tourism "multi-destination" under the banner "Central America, so small...yet so big,"
However, they still have some weaknesses to work on in order to strengthen this economic activity such as greater public investment for tourism promotion and integrating the various tourism offers such as volcanoes, beaches, colonial cities, Ricardo Martinez, Honduran tourism director, pointed out.
The Minister of Tourism and the mayors of Tegucigalpa, Santa Lucia and Valle de Angeles inaugurated the "Urban Planning Project for the Reales Minas corridor."
The mayor of Tegucigalpa said that the project seeks to identify parks, landscapes and cathedrals and other architectural jewels in the capital in order to integrate them into the corridor that reaches up to San Juancito, so that local and international tourists can choose the destination they would like to visit.
American real estate company, RKI, presented a tourism development project for the island of Guanaja to the Government of Honduras
RKI (Richard Knorr International) presented the project, called Arrow Green, to the Minister of Tourism for Honduras, Ricardo Martinez, at a meeting of Honduran and American officials and business persons on September 24 in Chicago.