SITCA and CABEI launch credit and technical assistance program for Tourism MSMEs in the SICA region
CABEI will make available to the micro, small and medium tourism enterprises of the 8 countries of the SICA region an initial amount of 10 million dollars for micro credits, which will be facilitated through intermediary financial institutions.
Tegucigalpa, November 6, 2018 - The "Regional Program of Competitiveness and Sustainability for Tourism MSMEs (PROMITUR)" was presented today at the Honduran Ministry and Institute of Tourism. The project was jointly designed by the Secretariat of Central American Tourism Integration (SITCA), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and the National Tourism Authorities (NTAs) of Central America and the Dominican Republic.
With an initial contribution of 10 million dollars, CABEI will provide access to credit and technical assistance in order to improve the quality of the tourism product and service offering, as well as to streamline associated tourism activities, including: hotels, restaurants, tour operators, tourist transport, among other thematic and cultural production activities related to tourism.
The Honduran Minister of Tourism, Emilio Silvestri stated that, "We are very pleased with this financial product offered by CABEI; it will be very beneficial for MSMEs in the country."
For his part, CABEI Financing for the Majority Unit Coordinator, Sergio Avilés commented that, "This program has a special significance as it is a regional initiative that will benefit the MSMEs of the tourism sector in all the countries that make up SICA, especially considering that the Heads of State of the SICA Region defined tourism as a strategic and priority sector for sustainable economic and social development at the national and regional levels."
The program aims to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of the tourism sector in the region by means of providing access to credit to tourism MSMEs, pursuant to the specific needs of the sector. The program's design process involved joint work among the private sector, the Federation of Chambers of Tourism of Central America (FEDECATUR), the countries of the isthmus and CABEI experts.
The NTAs have specifically stated that PROMITUR will attend the credit needs of the tourism sector with adequate conditions, providing specialized technical assistance to tourism MSMEs in order to develop business plans for their internationalization and access to markets. In addition, it will promote MSMEs in all stages to achieve the Certification of the Central American Integrated Quality and Tourism Sustainability System, as well as support innovation, new business models and the development of tourism products taking advantage of the use of technologies.
Tourism entrepreneurs who wish to be qualified for access to micro credits, must be legally registered in the national tourism registry of the National Chamber of Tourism of their country, where they will be provided with additional information regarding the credit rating process in the various intermediary banks in Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic.
