Rethinking Tourism in Honduras

If the slogan "Honduras is our home" is to mean anything worthwhile, then it has to be about more than admiring and taking pride in all the nice stuff we have. It has to also be about caring for all who live in our home.

By Marco Cáceres
I would like to amend the Ministry of Tourism's new slogan to promote tourism within Honduras. "Honduras is our home" is perfectly fine. It's a great idea to encourage Hondurans to get out and travel in their country (... rather than go abroad) and circulate their money to help stimulate the national economy. But while I think it is important to remember that Honduras is our home, it's equally important to create an awareness that Honduras is much more than just its antiquities, colonial towns, mountains, wildlife, rivers, and beaches and oceans. It's more than all the charming hotels, restaurants, and bars and coffee shops located in picturesque settings. It is perhaps more about its people... in much the same way as a church is more than its pews, icons, artwork, walls and roof. Thus, my revised slogan would go something like this... "Honduras is our home, and we are each others' brothers and sisters".

The Ministry of Tourism's new publicity campaign is designed primarily to get people out of their houses and neighborhoods and get them moving around the country during Holy Week (Semana Santa). This year, Easter Sunday falls on April 4, so Holy Week will run from Sunday, March 28 through Saturday, April 3. Obviously, the aim of the campaign is to help boost sales in Honduras, particularly given the severe drop in revenue suffered by many businesses in the country during the past year as a result of the political crisis and the broader world financial crisis.

But if you only think of tourism, especially during a supposedly sacred time of the year, as renting a beach house in Tela, Trujillo or Roatán and sunning yourself and frolicking in the ocean during the day and spending your evenings eating at nice restaurants, consuming large quantities of alcohol in bars, and dancing merengue and salsa in clubs... Or going rafting on the Cangrejal river or exploring the jungles of La Mosquitia or hiking trails on Pico Bonito mountain or visiting colorful towns like Yuscarán and Valle de Angeles or touring archaeological and nature parks in Copán Ruinas... Well, something seems to be missing.

When I met with US Ambassador Hugo Llorens in Tegucigalpa last year, I told him that I was encouraged by the fact that he was traveling all around Honduras meeting with local government and business leaders. Obviously, those contacts are vital for building up one's understanding of the country's situation and its specific problems and needs. I asked him, though, to set aside at least an hour or two during each of his visits to go and spend time at a volunteer project being undertaken by North American or Honduran citizens. I pointed him in this direction because I think it is these kind of projects that provide the most honest and direct exposure to the real Honduras that most of us never see or even think about. To his great credit, Ambassador Llorens has complied.

It feels good to have romantic and nostalgic feelings about Honduras, its spectacular natural resources, its history, its food, its music... and of course, its soccer. However, at some point you have to return to earth and accept the fact that all of these wonderful things mean absolutely nothing when you have so many Hondurans living in abject poverty and unable to feed, clothe, house, and educate themselves or their children. We're talking about half of Honduras' population of 7-8 million. Returning to earth means opening your eyes to the Honduras of street kids who have no safe homes or loving parents or regular meals. It means opening your eyes to the country's garbage dumps where babies are born and children rummage through trash for food to eat or metal to sell. You know the full story. It's not pretty. Neither is it unusual or all that obscure.

If the slogan "Honduras is our home" is to mean anything worthwhile, then it has to be about more than admiring and taking pride in all the nice stuff we have. It has to also be about caring for all who live in our home. It is hard to justify having pride in a home that is mostly incomplete, in disrepair, or in ruins.

So when you travel around Honduras this Holy Week, as well as other weeks, don't seek only the traditional ways of having "fun" for yourself and your family. Entertain the notion of spending your "human capital", as well as spending your financial capital. There are literally thousands of volunteer social projects throughout Honduras that need your energy, talents, experience, expertise, and contacts. Start by looking here: http://projecthonduras.com/ham. Be a "social tourist". Do tourism with a purpose. Experience the most authentic part of Honduras.

Honduras is our home, and we are each others' brothers and sisters.