{"id":242454,"date":"2026-03-17T15:13:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T13:13:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/?p=242454"},"modified":"2026-03-17T15:13:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T13:13:36","slug":"central-america-strengthens-cooperation-to-develop-sustainable-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/central-america-strengthens-cooperation-to-develop-sustainable-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"Central America strengthens cooperation to develop sustainable tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Central American Tourism Promotion Agency (<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/catacentroamerica.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-black-color\">CATA<\/mark><\/a><\/strong>) and the international organization <strong>The Embassy of Nature<\/strong> (<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theembassyofnature.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-black-color\">TEON<\/mark><\/a><\/strong>) have signed a cooperation agreement aimed at strengthening the integration between environmental conservation and tourism development. The initiative seeks to structure a regional approach capable of enhancing natural resources while consolidating Central America\u2019s position in the international tourism market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Behind this initiative lies a simple idea: in this region of the world, nature is not only a heritage to be preserved. It is also one of the main drivers of tourism attractiveness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>An international partner to connect nature and development<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Embassy of Nature<\/strong> is an international initiative that promotes greater consideration of nature in political and economic frameworks. Its approach consists of recognizing natural capital as a central element in public decision-making, encouraging models that combine ecosystem protection, territorial planning and sustainable investment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this context, the organization\u2019s participation adds an international dimension to the project and strengthens Central America\u2019s visibility in global discussions on sustainable tourism and natural resource management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:60px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A roadmap to identify pilot destinations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Sin-titulo-1024-x-600-px-2025-05-27T160530.335.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-242447\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.7067705796395518;width:338px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Sin-titulo-1024-x-600-px-2025-05-27T160530.335.png 1024w, https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Sin-titulo-1024-x-600-px-2025-05-27T160530.335-300x176.png 300w, https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Sin-titulo-1024-x-600-px-2025-05-27T160530.335-768x450.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The agreement includes the development of a <strong>roadmap over a period of 90 to 180 days<\/strong>. This process will help identify pilot destinations, define priority actions and establish monitoring mechanisms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The objective is to develop projects that combine <strong>ecosystem restoration with sustainable tourism experiences<\/strong>, while helping destinations better anticipate environmental and climate risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The cooperation covers several key areas: tourism-oriented territorial planning, climate change adaptation in natural areas with high ecological value and environmental risk management in destinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The program also includes the integration of environmental and social standards, the strengthening of technical and institutional capacities and the creation of tools to measure environmental and socio-economic impacts in order to evaluate results over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:60px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Biodiversity as a strategic advantage for the region<br><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cThis alliance reaffirms the vision of Central America as a region that understands its biodiversity not only as natural heritage, but also as a strategic <strong>asset for its international positioning and sustainable development<\/strong>,\u201d said<strong> Boris Iraheta<\/strong>, <strong>Secretary General of CATA<\/strong>, during the signing of the agreement.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"696\" height=\"348\" src=\"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/concurso-panama-turismo-sostenible-696x348-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-242440\" style=\"width:338px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/concurso-panama-turismo-sostenible-696x348-1.png 696w, https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/concurso-panama-turismo-sostenible-696x348-1-300x150.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Central America indeed occupies a particular ecological position. A true biological bridge between North and South America, <strong>the region is among the most biodiverse territories on the planet<\/strong>. Although it represents about <strong>0.51% of the Earth\u2019s surface<\/strong>, it hosts nearly <strong>8% of the world\u2019s biodiversity<\/strong> and maintains around <strong>25% of its territory under some form of protection<\/strong>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The region is also home to around <strong>60 Indigenous peoples<\/strong>, representing nearly <strong>20% of the population<\/strong>, as well as the <strong>Mesoamerican Reef System<\/strong>, the second largest coral reef barrier in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:60px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>From commitment to results<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond the announcement, the challenge for Central America will now be to turn this cooperation into concrete projects. The value of this initiative will depend on the ability of destinations to integrate these tools into their day-to-day management and translate environmental commitments into measurable actions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:70px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In a region where nature is one of the main drivers of tourism, the way these policies are implemented could play a decisive role in the future competitiveness of destinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>Photos: SICA | CATA<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Central America launches a regional alliance to strengthen sustainable tourism and leverage biodiversity as a driver of tourism development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":242435,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16783],"tags":[36441,36439,36443,36447,36436,36435,36438,36442,36440,36444,36448,36434,36446,36450,34762,36433,36445,36451,36449,36437],"class_list":["post-242454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-biodiversity-tourism-central-america","tag-cata-central-america-tourism","tag-central-america-tourism-cooperation","tag-climate-adaptation-tourism","tag-conservation-and-tourism-central-america","tag-ecosystem-restoration-tourism","tag-embassy-of-nature-teon-2","tag-mesoamerican-reef-tourism","tag-natural-capital-tourism","tag-nature-tourism-central-america","tag-regional-tourism-cooperation","tag-responsible-tourism-central-america","tag-sustainable-destination-management","tag-sustainable-destinations-central-america","tag-sustainable-development-tourism","tag-sustainable-tourism-central-america","tag-sustainable-tourism-investment","tag-sustainable-tourism-latin-america-3","tag-sustainable-tourism-strategy","tag-tourism-and-biodiversity-central-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242454"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":242463,"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242454\/revisions\/242463"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visit-latin-america.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}