LATIN AMERICA: Tourism and Culture, a Winning Combination

By Dalia Acosta Reprint | | Print |

Dalia Acosta

HAVANA, Nov 21 1996 (IPS) - The relation between tourism and culture and the defence of a cultural identity are the bases needed for the booming leisure business, said delegates at a regional meeting on tourism here this week.

The International Meeting on Cultural Tourism, which ends Friday, was organised and funded by the United Nations Education Science and Culture Organisation UNESCO, Mexico and Brazil.

It aims to increase cooperation between the tourism and cultural sectors in a drive for sustainable development in the so- called “industry of the 21st century.”

According to the Regional Office of Culture for Latin America and the Caribbean (ORCALC), based in Havana, the current figure of 560 million tourists per year and the projected 700 million for the year 2000, show leisure is now an important sector of the world economy.

These crowds of visitors now present a challenge to the region, both because of the amount of people coming and the need to incorporate new values related to culture, history, nature and national heritage, said ORCALC.

Cuba’s culture minister, Armando Hart, said the region had enormous tourist potential, with millions of people coming each year, but “unfortunately we don’t always know how to get them into the desired cultural dimension.”

Brazil’s Eduardo Portella was more keen on the idea of interculturalism, calling for desirable tourism which leads to the exchange between cultures, the mutual widening of horizons, and a balance between tolerance and respect.

In his opinion, this concept should be at the heart of the tourism policies of the region, fully established in the consciousness of the directors of the State and private sectors, promotors and cultural agents, and all those who deal with the visitors.

Portella also called attention to the dangers linked to cultural tourism: the nostalgic protection of identity and the chronic lack of protection for the market.

His opinions will play an important part when the meeting draws up a regional plan of action to promote the cultural angle of tourism, in the quest for harmonious and lasting development.

The tourism market has a duty to protect national heritage and combat predatory tourism – that of the leisure programmes which only seek to meet the senseless demands of indolent consumers, said delegates.

The preparatory meeting for the conference, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in July, concluded that conventional tourism where culture and nature are mere backdrops “could even become a damaging factor on the environmental and ethical fronts.”

UNESCO’s director-general Federico Mayor, is expected to attend the meeting where he will be awarded an honorary doctorate in education science.

During his visit, Mayor will also present UNESCO awards to two leading Cuban intellectuals, Alfredo Guevara, cinematographer and head of the Cuban Institute of Art and the Cinematographic Industry (ICAIC) and to Eusebio Leal, Habana historian, the main force behind the restoration of the city.