ALBA-TCP ministers meet in Havana to discuss challenges of tourism

The 7th Meeting of Ministers and High-Level Tourism Authorities of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People's Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) was held this Saturday in Havana, capital of Cuba.

The ministerial meeting took place within the framework of the International Tourism Fair (FITCuba) 2025, which was celebrated from April 30th to this Saturday.

The regional integration body reported in a statement that this Saturday's meeting was preceded on Friday by a meeting of deputy ministers, where working groups analyzed mechanisms to strengthen tourism in the region.

The working groups evaluated progress on multi-destination products, as well as the proposed tourism brand for the Alliance, the design of a communications campaign, sustainable development, flexibility in aeronautical matters, and the definition of a roadmap to achieve the objectives.

Another central point was to examine proposals for the development of corporate and social tourism in the nations of the regional bloc.

Yamily Aldama Valdés, Cuba's Deputy Minister of Tourism, noted that some tour operators that are not part of ALBA-TCP have expressed interest in joining, from this perspective, to "strengthen tourism in our countries, as they have done in Cuba."

Valdés also announced that some airlines will join the working groups and the Alliance's proposals to offer the possibility of regional interconnection.

"We want to finalize several agreements. "In recent days, we have worked very hard with Venezuela, whom we thank for their presence, and we also thank Honduras and our Minister of Tourism from Nicaragua, as she has been closely following the agreements we have been discussing," he stated.

The president of the Latin American Culture and Tourism Association of Mexico, Armando Bojórquez, made various charter flights available to ALBA-TCP to promote multi-destination projects.

The working groups included representatives from the Venezuelan Tourism Agency representing the Ministry of Tourism of the Bolivarian Republic; and representatives from offices in the ALBA countries, such as Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Cuba, Antigua and Barbuda, among others, the statement said.