New Tourism Strategy for Honduras

By Bufete Mejia & Asociados

With support from the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF), Honduras unveiled its new tourism strategy, focused on improving the country's tourism infrastructure, mobilizing more public and private financing for high-impact tourism projects, increasing connectivity between destinations, helping to mitigate the effects of climate change, and contributing to the achievement of the SDGs, among others.

The project was presented at the main international tourism fair of the Hispanic world, FITUR 2024, with the goal of improving the competitiveness of Honduran destinations and position them even more in the main circuits and trends of global tourism. The goal also looks to accelerate the economic recovery of the tourism sector, one of the most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the region, and to promote its resilience and sustainability in the long term.

An in-depth analysis will be conducted on the competitiveness and investment climate of the tourism sector in the country. This will facilitate the identification and promotion of specific investment opportunities.

The results of this work will be reflected in a tourism investment guide which will include chapters on the general economic situation, regulatory frameworks and investment incentives, as well as the main assets and differential advantages in terms of sustainable tourism.

Honduras recorded a total of 459,000.00 tourists in 2021, ranking 75th in the world in absolute terms.

That smaller countries regularly perform lower in a comparison of the absolute number of guests, is obvious. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of Honduras, the result is much more comparable picture: With 0.044 tourists per resident, Honduras ranked 98th in the world. In Central America, it ranked 5th.

In 2021, Honduras generated around 305.00 million US dollars in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 0.96 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 4 percent of all international tourism receipts in Central America.

Following data published in the World Tourism Barometer, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) recently analyzed global tourist arrivals, highlighting the 15 destinations with the highest growth from January to September 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Among these was Honduras, experiencing a 17% increase in tourist arrivals during this period. In 2023, it is estimated that Honduras received approximately 2.3 million visitors, with cruise passengers accounting for 60% of this total.