CENTROAMÉRICA INNOVATION + TOURISM TALK › wp-content › ... · integrate the tourism product of the Dominican Republic. For its implementation, CATA plans to execute, with the

C ATA N E W S1 Edition No. 7 • 2019

INNOVATION + TOURISM

OCT 12 - NOV 2 2018TALK

CENTROAMÉRICA

Edition No. 7 • 2019NEWSBelize • Costa Rica • El Salvador • Guatemala • Honduras • Nicaragua • Panama • Dominican Republic

El Salvador

Guatemala

Honduras

Nicaragua

Costa Rica

Panama

Belize

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C ATA N E W S 2Edition No. 7 • 2019


Change is a constant factor of modern times, and the ways in which tourism activity is carried out and managed nowadays reveal the vertiginous evolution that defines the 21st century. Therefore, the continuous development and transformation of traditional management models are the guidelines to continue in our work as promoters, developers, and marketers of products and offers from Central America.

It is under these premises that CATA, acting opportunely to achieve a growth model and sustained management adjusted to the expectations and requirements of the target markets, developed two important workshops that strengthened the technical capacity of the regional tourism sector, allowing to identify gaps, strengths, and opportunities in relation to promotion and marketing styles imposed by the accelerated current technological advances. Based on these results, and with the technical assistance and vast experience in strategic communication of the company MORETURISMO International, along with the decided support of our Belize PPT, from October 12 to November 2, 2018, CATA carried out the 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk (CAITT 2018), in each of the Central American capitals. The event brought together about a thousand industry participants who exchanged and strengthened their knowledge about promotion and digital marketing with top executives from Google, Expedia, TripAdvisor, Lucetti / Mackenzie, and Moreturismo International.

Of the almost one thousand participants from the public and private sectors, the CAITT 2018 allowed 496 tourism entities access to a world of knowledge that has opened a range of opportunities that will promote its growth through technological modernization1. An intangible value and incalculable potential for economic prosperity that this integration exercise leaves us is the revitalization of the Central American multi-destination, a situation that contributed to fulfill one of our objectives of creating the first Central American co-marketing system, a milestone in the history of regional economic integration.

This newsletter collects the data, statistics, and statements of our authorities in the context of the events. We hope to see you at CAITT 2019!

Ana Carolina Briones PereyraSecretary GeneralCentral America Tourism Agency

Introduction of the 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk by CATA’s Secretary General

1 See the Sustainable Development Goals, number 8, section 8.2.


Within the context of the seven events held during the 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk series, Ana Carolina Briones, CATA’s Secretary General, explained to the regional tourism actors about the actions developed during the 2016 and 2017 digital campaigns; their results and impact they had in the European target markets; and, the interest that the region arouses as a tourism destination and how this contributes, directly and indirectly, to business growth. The Secretary General also presented the key performance indicators2 resulting from these actions and those of the support campaign carried out with the influencers that are essential for C2C management3.

With respect to the new web platform, CATA’s Secretary General said that to date www.visitcentroamerica.com is cataloged as the most thorough tourism site on Central America, and as an innovative element, this has a downloadable APP for the mobile phone, which allows the tourist to have all the information about the points of tourist interest at hand, a selection of informative pages and experiences, and notifications about the destinations to visit.

CATA, model of success in the promotion of the Central American Multi-Destination

CATA presents the Digital Marketing Strategy of Central America for 2018-2019During the events of the 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk, CATA’s Secretary General presented the digital marketing strategy of Central America for the period 2018-2019.

According to Mrs. Briones, among the fundamental objectives of this strategy are to increase the positioning of Central America as a multi-destination in the target markets, and to integrate the tourism product of the Dominican Republic. For its implementation, CATA plans to execute, with the help of the regional tourism sector, seven major actions

1) Strengthen,improve,andmaintainapositiveimageoftheSICAregionasatourismmulti-destination;

2) Optimizethepositioningof the www.visitcentroamerica.com new web platform in different engines;

3) Implementaneffectivedigitalcommunicationplan;

4) Increase the presence of the multi-destinationproduct in the digital market through an innovative digital campaign that involves: the Visit Central America website, links to web pages of SICA countries, travel and opinion blogs, search engines (SEM), APP;

5) Create valuable content, such as videos of multi-destination experiences, photos, influencers;

6) Train the technical team of CATA, as well as the private and public sectors for their integration in the new strategy; and

7) Generate Big Data so that, together with data analysis, it directs our strategy towards the interest and preference of the traveler.

It is fundamental that both the National Tourism Administrations and the business sector get together to generate a joint image, that is, all in the same campaign.

2 KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) 3 Customer to Customer


Keynote SpeakersThroughout the events, 38 conferences were held by senior executives from Google, TripAdvisor, Expedia, Moreturismo, Lucetti / Mackenzie, Expedia, and CATA’s Secretary General.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE CONFERENCES:

SUBJECT COMPANY SPEAKER COUNTRY WHERE IT WAS HELD

TYPE OF TALK

How to improve competitiveness through the digital strategy plan

Moreturismo Internacional

Juan Miguel Moreno Magaña

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Belize

On-site

CATA and the implementation of the Central American digital marketing strategy

CATA Ana Carolina Briones

El Salvador’s Digital Marketing Strategy

MITUR Carlos Cruz El Salvador On-site

Appropriate use of OTAS and Collaborative Tourism

Expedia Raúl Mamani El Salvador On-site

Guatemala

Nicaragua

Honduras Virtual

Alejandro Saborío Montero

Costa Rica On-site

Fabiola Tile Panama

Manuel Solano Belize

The trip starts with Google Google Sergio Cálix El Salvador On-site

Inés Peralta Agüero Guatemala

Luis Magaña Honduras

Inés Peralta Nicaragua Virtual

María José Güitrón G. Costa Rica On-site

Silvia Ariza Panama

Belize

Key elements to be more influential through opinions

Trip Advisor Kristen Bonner El Salvador Virtual

Costa Rica

Panama

Belize

Grant reason to emotion Lucetti McKenzie

Jorge Alba Nicaragua On-site


Juan Miguel Moreno Magaña: Moreturismo CEO. Moreturismo Internacional, company internationally recognized for its vast experience in tourism innovation, is in charge of the implementation of CATA’s 2018-2019 digital marketing strategy.

Raúl Mamani Senior Business Development Manager for Central and South America. He was in charge of the on-site Expedia conferences in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, as well as the virtual conference in Honduras.

Alejandro Saborío Montero Associate Market Manager, Costa Rica. He was Expedia’s keynote speaker of the conference in San Jose, Costa Rica.

How to be more competitive through digital tourism strategy

Appropriate use of OTAS and Collaborative Tourism

This presentation, carried out in all of the countries in the region, complemented the presentation of the Central American digital strategy, generating space for the participants’ identification of the advantages that the strategy offers and how the National Tourism Administrations, as well as the Small and Medium

Enterprises, can take advantage of it to strengthen their projection, and through its implementation, increase their client portfolio.

Given the rise of new forms of marketing, in which platforms such as Airbnb is one of its strong exponents, what can a tourism sector that maintains its traditional management schemes do? Expedia points out the keys to take advantage of travel platforms to turn these apparent disadvantages into opportunities and become more competitive.

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Expedia’s Keynote Speakers

Moreturismo’s Keynote Speaker


Sergio Calix Manager of Automation Strategies for SMEs in the United States. He was Google’s keynote speaker of the conference in El Salvador.

Fabiola Tile Market Manager - Expedia Group Panama. She presented on behalf of Expedia at the Panama event.

Inés Peralta AgüeroMarket Lead - Central Region & Caribbean. She was Google’s keynote speaker of the conferences in Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Manuel SolanoAssociate Market Manager, Central America. He gave the keynote address for Expedia at the Belize event.

The trip starts with Google

The data provide us with the best formulas to promote a destination in order to have a greater impact on the audiences in our social networks. This keynote address will help the regional tourism sector make efficient use of data resources, which is part of the strategy that Central America will develop with Google. Google presented how companies can be more efficient to find their

best customers using Google’s machine learning technology.

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Google’s Keynote Speakers


Luis Magaña Accelerate Growth Account Strategist. He was Google’s keynote speaker of the conference in Honduras.

María José Güitrón Google Mexico’s Account Strategist. She was the Google’s keynote speaker of the conference in Costa Rica.

Silvia Ariza Google México’s Account Strategist. She was Google’s keynote speaker of the conferences in Panama and Belize.

Kristen Bonner Senior Destination Marketing – Latin America for Trip Advisor. Keynote speaker of TripAdvisor for El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Belize. The dissertations were carried out virtually.

Key elements in being more influential through opinions

The opinion that customers have about the brand has been an important factor for business success. Nowadays, online reputation is more relevant than ever, and it is precisely the tourism sector that most positively and negatively impacts the appearance of online opinions; as a result of technology, these are disseminated at the speed of light and reach a large number of people in seconds, significantly affecting the reputation of a business.

How to go from opinion to action? Generating a good reputation, knowing how to manage the opinions of customers, and increasing comments is vital, since it is at this stage that the customer buys the trip. During the presentations, the fundamentals of applications such as TripAdvisor for the decision to purchase a trip were presented, and the keys to take advantage of these opportunities were also analyzed.

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TripAdvisor’s Keynote Speaker


Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk in El SalvadorOn October 12, the inaugural event of the 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk was held at the Sheraton Presidente Hotel in San Salvador.

According to online participation records, the event had 115 participants representing 42 tourism entities. Event attendance in El Salvador represented 16% out of the total attendance recorded in all of Central America, and 10% of the participant companies at the regional level. The Tour Operators were the companies with the greatest presence, since they represented 28.57% out of

Jorge Alba Lucetti General Director. Keynote speaker of Lucetti / Mackenzie in Nicaragua.

Grant reason to emotion

The strategy for the creation and promotion of destination brands and tourism products through the application of new technological tools.

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Lucetti / Mackenzie’s Keynote Speaker

C ATA N E W S 1 0Edition No. 7 • 2019

the total number of companies attending the national event, equivalent to 11% out of the total Tour Operators that attended the events at the regional level.

Seventeen percent of Salvadoran attendees corresponded to general managers of the companies, while 7% were executives, and 4% were owners. The influx of students from the tourism career of three of the most prestigious universities in this Central American republic accounted for 50% of the general attendance. In this regard, we would like to highlight the relevance that this message had been shared with future professionals for the promotion of tourism, since it guarantees the continuity of this integration effort.

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El Salvador works on digital innovation to be at the vanguard of tourism

The inaugural speech of the 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk event, which took place in El Salvador, was in charge of José Napoleón Duarte, Minister of Tourism of El Salvador. In his address, the Minister highlighted the leadership of CATA for the development of these events and valued its importance for the tourism industry.

The highest representative of Salvadoran tourism urged participants to take advantage of this space as a turning point for the sector at the regional level, to discuss the present and future of Central American destinations in the digital era, and to strengthen intra-regional alliances.

Duarte explained that “…tourism is constantly changing, and that changes and new initiatives are required every day to keep us going.” He also highlighted that digital advances and innovation provide opportunities for tourism to strengthen and increase the process of social inclusion, the empowerment of local communities, and the efficient management of resources. He concluded by reporting that El Salvador is working on digital innovation to be at the vanguard of tourism.

In addition, the Minister presented El Salvador’s digital tourism marketing strategy to the Salvadoran tourism sector.

C ATA N E W S1 1 Edition No. 7 • 2019

Innovation, the key to lead the Salvadoran Tourism Sector

2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talkin Guatemala

Roberto Calderón, President of the Salvadoran Chamber of Tourism (CASATUR), welcomed his business colleagues, NGO representatives, speakers, and participants in the event. Mr. Calderón highlighted the importance of innovation in the management styles of companies, and that this implies having to adjust to times and technologies, since they are the key to direct the Salvadoran tourism sector towards new stages of development and tourism projection to the international markets.

The Gran Tikal Futura Hotel, in Guatemala City, was the platform from which the second event of the 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk was launched on October 23, 2018 before more than 110 representatives of 64 Guatemalan tourist entities.

The Guatemalan audience represented 15.76% out of the total Central American participants, while its companies represented 15% out of the participating companies at the regional level. The Tourism Operators reached 52% out of the total participants of the national event and represented 29% out of the total attendants to the events throughout Central America. Executives represented 54.55% of the participants in Guatemala, and 17.27% were general managers.


PARTICIPANT GUATEMALAN BUSINESSESCATEGORIZED BY ACTIVITY

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Guatemala will continue fostering and putting innovative ideas into practice

In his keynote speech at the 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk held in Guatemala, Jorge Mario Chajón, Minister of Tourism of Guatemala, said that the World Tourism Organization considers that digital advances and innovation are part of the solution to the challenge of uniting continuous growth with a more sustainable and responsible tourism sector. Therefore, the use of innovation and digital advances offer tourism opportunities to improve inclusion,

the empowerment of the local community, and the efficient management of resources, among other objectives within a broader sustainable development program.

Minister Chajón reiterated the commitment of INGUAT to continue fostering and putting into practice innovative ideas capable of revolutionizing the way in which tourists enjoy the unparalleled experience of visiting Guatemala4.

4 Taken from the article “Central America advocates digital marketing for tourism promotion”, published on 10/23/2018 https://www.eleconomista.net/tendencias/Centroamerica-aboga-por-la-mercadotecnia-digital-para-la-promocion-turistica-20181023-0024.html


Technological advances direct us towards a tourist who has the world in the palm of the hand

In his message to Guatemalan businessmen, Luis Rey, President of the Guatemalan Chamber of Tourism (CAMTUR), emphasized the constant advances in telecommunications, information technology, databases, networks, internet, mobile and wireless technology, global positioning systems, and smartphones, among others, stressing that every day new mobile applications are created that direct us to a digital tourist who has the world in the palm of his hand, and is increasingly more connected and more autonomous.

2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk in Honduras On October 24, 2018, the Marriot Hotel in the city of Tegucigalpa, Honduras became the third venue for the 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk event, in which 86 Honduran tourism stakeholders, representing 71 companies, participated. Participants from Honduras represented 12% of the registered regional attendance, and 17% of the participating regional business network.

Two sub-sectors that stood out for their high representativeness index were the Tour Operators with a 33.80% participation, representing 21% out of the total influx of operating businesses in Central America. Hotel accounted for 28.16% of the participating companies, representing 18% out of the total participating hotel companies at the regional level.


Furthermore, 45% of the participating companies were represented by their general managers, and 12.79% by executives. Honduras was not the exception, and just like in the other countries of the region, the high hierarchical level of the participants constitutes a clear indicator of the level of interest and importance that the event represents for the entrepreneurs and the National Tourism Administrations to be an active part of the Digital Marketing Strategy of Central America, led by CATA

The Honduras 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk, was inaugurated by His Excellency Emilio Silvestri, Minister of Tourism of Honduras, along with Epanimondas Marinakys, President of the Honduran National Chamber of Tourism, who is also the current President Pro Tempore of the Central American Federation of Chambers of Tourism (FEDECATUR).

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2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk in NicaraguaOn October 26, the Crowne Plaza Hotel & Convention Center in Managua, Nicaragua, was the fourth geographical point where the 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk was held. One hundred and sixteen entities attended this meeting, which is equivalent to 27% out of the total participating organizations at the regional level, as well as 251 tourism sector actors, corresponding to 36% of the total number of participants in the isthmus.

At the local level, government officials represented 44.22% of the participants, and business owners represented 40.96%. On the other hand, gastronomic companies accounted for 39%, followed by hotels with 28% and Tour Operators with 17%.


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Nicaragua must start working on a Multi-Destination Campaign to create a single international routeThe inauguration of the 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk in Nicaragua was in charge of Anasha Campbell, Minister of Tourism, who said that “Nicaragua is a beautiful country and it has to start working on a multi-destination campaign… the countries of the region must unite to create a single international route.”

The highest representative of Nicaraguan tourism said that the goal of Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk is to raise awareness about the opportunities offered to the tourism sector by new technologies and innovation, for the development of the tourism industry in a responsible, inclusive and sustainable manner. She added that the new tools, the digital platforms, have come to transform the way we communicate and consume information, and if we do not adapt to them, we will be forgotten5.

5 Taken from the article: Tourism will be promoted through digital sites. La Primerísima Radio Station http://www.radiolaprimerisima.com/noticias/general/252340/promoveran-el-turismo-a-traves-de-los-sitios-digitales/


2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk in Costa RicaOn October 30, the fifth event of the 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk took place in the Tryp Sabana Hotel in San Jose, Costa Rica. Seventy-five companies with an equal number of representatives participated in the event, 81.33% of them being business owners. Costa Rica represented 11% of the total participants and 18% of the regional businesses.

In the case of Costa Rica, the Travel Agencies played a leading role representing 61% of the attending businesses, equivalent to 77% of the Travel Agencies that participated in Central America in these events. The Tour Operators were the second group, reaching a 21% representativeness, which corresponded to 13% out of the total of tour operator companies that participated in the region.

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The 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk in Costa Rica was inaugurated by Sary Valverde, President of the National Chamber of Tourism of Costa Rica (CANATUR), who emphasized in her message to the business sector that it cannot be ignored that the digital transformation has given the emergence of new business models, transforming the tourism industry and imposing new forms of competition that force the sector, and companies in particular, to adapt to an environment in constant transformation.

Entrepreneurs should not only be observers without the capacity to take action, running the risk of being left behind. On the contrary, entrepreneurs should have the ability to take advantage of them, she concluded6.

Digital transformation has laid the foundations for the rise of new business models

6 Taken from the article: “International experts teach about the use of Big Data in tourism” published on October 30, 2018 in the newspaper El País, C.R https://www.elpais.cr/2018/10/30/expertos-internacionales-ensenan-sobre-aprovechamiento-del-big-data-en-turismo/

2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Palk in PanamaThe City of David, Panama, was the stage where the penultimate event of the 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk, of the seven scheduled, was held on October 31. Thirty-one delegates from 28 Panamanian businesses participated. The participants from Panama corresponded to 4% of the Central American total. The representativeness of Panamanian businesses at the regional level was 7%. In Panama, hoteliers set the tone by representing 36% of participating businesses, followed by Tour Operators with 29%. Regarding the hierarchical ranks, 55% corresponded to executives and 32% to general managers.


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2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk in Belize

The closing event of the 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk took place on November 2nd at the Best Western Plus Belize Biltmore Plaza Hotel in Belize City. Twenty-nine business with 30 representatives participated in the event. This represents 4% out of the total number of Central American participants, and 7% of the companies registered in all the events in the region.

The hotels represented 50% out of the total of the participating companies, followed by the Tour Operators with 24% of the business fabric of the event. Thirty percent of the participants were general managers of the companies, and another 30% were executives.

The event was opened by Gina Valderrama, Director of Tourism Investments of the Tourism Authority of Panama, on behalf of Gustavo Him, Minister of Tourism of Panama.

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2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk provides the tools to be part of the regional marketing strategy of the region

His Excellency, Manuel Heredia, Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation of Belize and President Pro Tempore of the CATA Board of Directors, inaugurated the event after an expressive speech addressed to the private sector of Belize, in which he stated that this was a historic moment, as it was the first time that Central America has been able to coordinate and organize seven tourism innovation workshops throughout the region, carried out under the technical coordination of CATA, and the support of Belize with the Pro Tempore Presidency. The Minister told entrepreneurs that the 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk would provide the tools to become part of the region’s digital strategy,

allowing them to be more competitive in a constantly changing environment. He also highlighted that digital marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing.

Minister Heredia stated that both the Government of Belize and the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation have been, and are, key entities in generating, leading, and developing initiatives that culminate in major projects, which do not receive the recognition or publicity they deserve, and CATA seems to suffer from the same problem, since many of the initiatives coordinated by this Agency for the region go unnoticed.

Media coverage for the 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk

In each of the Central American countries, the 2018 Innovation + Tourism Talk garnered interest by part of the media, resulting in extensive coverage in its information spaces.


Some results of the 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk The scope, impacts, and benefits resulting from the 2018 Central America Innovation + Tourism Talk for the regional tourism sector are vast. The union and commitment of the tourism development agents of Central America to actively and decisively engage in the execution of the Central American digital marketing plan marks a milestone in the history of Central American tourism integration by creating the first regional co-marketing system, a promotional action never seen before and for which actions and tasks have already been defined for each of the actors that are part of CATA.

Theseeventsopenedaworldofopportunitiestoalmostonethousandparticipantsfromthepublicandprivatesectors,fromwhich496weretourismentitiesfromtheregion,byputtingattheirdisposalaworldofknowledgethathasmarkedayesterday,atoday,andafuturefortheir businesses.

Central America Tourism Agency - CATAEdificio SG - SICA, Final Bulevar Cancillería, Distrito El Espino, Ciudad Merliot, Antiguo Cuscatlán. La Libertad, El Salvador

(503) 2248-8800 / +503 7051-8862

w w w . c a t a t o u r i s m a g e n c y . o r g • w w w . v i s i t c e n t r o a m e r i c a . c o m

The monitoring carried out by CATA through the search engines led us to identify more than thirty reports on the event, some of them transcending the region, reaching the United States, Asia, Latin America, and Spain.

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CENTROAMÉRICA INNOVATION + TOURISM TALK › wp-content › ... · integrate the tourism product of the Dominican Republic. For its implementation, CATA plans to execute, with the