San Cristóbal, November 30, 2024.- The Tourism Ministers of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) read a document containing 25 proposals to strengthen the tourism sector in the region during the 6th ALBA-TCP Meeting of Ministers and High-Level Authorities on Tourism.

Jorge Arreaza, ALBA-TCP Executive Secretary, read the document in front of tourism officials from Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Honduras, Nicaragua, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Grenada, and Antigua and Barbuda.

Venezuelan Minister of Tourism, Leticia Gómez, and Cuban Deputy Minister of Tourism, Yamily Aldama Valdéz, both emphasized the need to continue strengthening the sector by creating mechanisms to facilitate integration and the promotion of tourism routes. These efforts would be supported by air, sea, and land transportation, as guaranteed by Venezuelan Minister of Transport, Ramón Velázquez Araguayán, who participated in the meeting held in Táchira State as part of the Venezuela International Tourism Fair (Fitven 2024).

Among the agreed points was the consideration of studying the implementation of an ALBA electronic visa, as well as identifying strategies and approaches for target markets, Arreaza explained while presenting the document.

One of the proposals approved by the tourism authorities was to organize the first regional tourism fair of the bloc in 2026.

Additionally, Nicaragua’s Minister of Tourism, Anasha Campbell; Grenada’s Minister, Adrian Augustine Thomas; and Saint Kitts and Nevis’ Minister, Melnecia Aleena Marshall, highlighted the importance of establishing common criteria to facilitate the certification of tourism products.

The final document of the meeting included proposals such as the training of tourism professionals, sharing information on visa policies of ALBA countries, simplifying migration processes among bloc nations, and creating a free transit area to promote the development and marketing of multi-destination tourism products.

The meeting was attended by Raúl Li Causi, President of the Bank of ALBA; Sebastián Michel, Ambassador of the Plurinational State of Bolivia; Gareth Bynoe, Ambassador to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and National Coordinator for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to ALBA-TCP; special guest from the Republic of Honduras, Mario Roberto Nuila Coto; and Micah Walter, Business Development Officer at Dominica’s Ministry of Labour.

In this context, Executive Secretary Jorge Arreaza emphasized that tourism is a tool for integration and a mechanism to promote trade and economic growth. “Tourism represents an opportunity to get to know each other,” he concluded.