El Salvador, Towns alive

Tourism strategy for human development

Today, it took place the inauguration of the program Towns Alive 2014, in this sixth edition the 262 municipalities of the country are invited to participate under the segments Towns with Cultural Charm and Towns with Natural Charm, which are a novelty compared to previous editions program.

The opening ceremony was chaired by Mr. Oscar Ortiz, Vice President of the Republic and Minister of Tourism, Mr. José Napoleon Duarte, and Deputy Minister Mr. Roberto Viera. At the table of honor, they were accompanied by representatives of the National Registry of Tourism, municipal representatives (COMURES President and Mayor of Antiguo Cuscatlan, Mrs. Milagro Navas), representatives of the private sector (Mr Roberto Calderon, President of the Salvadoran Chamber of Tourism) and by UNDP Resident Representative, Mr. Roberto Valent, who presented the document of the systematization of the experience of Towns Alive, emphasizing the teamwork and the contribution to human development.

This document was prepared by a team of experts, composed by the Ministry of Tourism, CORSATUR and coordinated by UNDP/ART El Salvador framework program, supported by the Knowledge Management Unit of UNDP Regional Centre based in Panama.

The objective of this systematization, beyond internal learning and institutional reflection, is to transfer the methodology and experiences to other countries, through South-South cooperation. Thus, the systematization of knowledge allows the adaptation to another context, capacity building, the process efficiency and the promotion of innovation in management. As noted by the Minister of Tourism, Mr. José Napoleon Duarte, "The systematization makes it a replicable program anywhere in the world, as this is a story of success. We have been reported that several countries are interested in implementing this strategy". To prepare the document it was necessary to rescue the historical memory, through workshops and interviews, among all the actors involved in these 5 years in which the public strategy has been developed and refined, thanks in great part to the high participation of the citizens.

In this way, it was possible to identify eight key factors for the success of this transversal promotion strategy of domestic tourism: the central inter-institution coordination, local structure, capacity building, job creation and strengthening of MSMEs, marketing strategy, annual fair, rescue of identity and national pride and public investment for the enhancement of tourist destinations.

After the formal ceremony there was time for artistic performances, the bases were handed to compete in this new edition, which begins today. The event ended with a press conference given by Mr. Valent, Resident Representative of UNDP, Mr. Ortiz, Vice President of the Republic, and Mr. Duarte, Minister of Tourism.

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