Honduras This Week Travel and Tourism

Visitor centers misunderstood in Central America

Pico Bonito's visitor center is located on the bank of the Cangrejal River.(Photo by Jon Kohl.)

By JON KOHL

Special to Honduras This Week

When Hurricane Mitch busted a prison in the city of La Ceiba in 1998, several prisoners scrambled up the Cangrejal River and spent the night in the newly inaugurated visitor center on the river boundary of Pico Bonito National Park. It was never the purpose of the center to lodge prisoners, then again, the purpose was never clear anyway.

"We were unable to show what tourists could do there," admits Fito Steiner, president of the non-governmental organization that manages the park. Today the visitor center sits idly watching whitewater tourists rush by.

Visitor centers are commonly built in parks across the United States and around the world. In general, these edifices as small as a kiosk to as large as a mansion offer additional visitor services, augmenting a visit to a national park, historical monument, or any other natural or cultural attraction. They often contain exhibits, park maps, souvenir shops, information desks and small restaurants.

BIG CENTERS, BIG FLOPS

Senescence, nevertheless, sets in early for many visitor centers in Central American parks. It stems from misunderstandings about the function of this popular player in the ecotourism development game. Take the three parks with the biggest centers: Poas Volcano National Park in Costa Rica, Masaya National Park in Nicaragua, and Tikal National Park in Guatemala.

Poas, built more than 20 years ago, showcases volcano exhibits in disrepair and an historical epoch in visitor center design predating interactive, user-friendly exhibits. Masaya has cracked under acid rain and was even used as a disco by the Sandinista government. The most famous of all, Tikal, owes its fame to its towering Mayan temples. Tikal enjoys a heavily visited location painted with a culture and biodiversity even richer than any chocolate sipped by Mayan kings. But despite the potential and a concerted attempt by a Bronx Zoo exhibit design team, the park has done little to resuscitate its center which now offers only a scattering of artifacts and panels that fail to capture passing throngs.

If the biggest centers succumb to mediocrity, imagine the smaller scores peppering the Central American landscape. Without a strong understanding of visitor center limitations, park directors see centers as big thingamajigs that serve more as prestigious trophies than key elements in an ecotourism plan. When they don't attract more tourists, don't raise more money, and begin to rot, the glory dissipates in the wind.

FALSE ASSUMPTIONS

Most parks start with the assumption that if you build centers, tourists will come. As Brett Jenks, president of RARE Center for Tropical Conservation, a conservation NGO that promotes ecotourism in Central America, observes, however, "No one comes half way across the world just to see a visitor center."

With proper planning, nonetheless, visitor centers can be effective. U.S. National Park Service guidelines state that a visitor center should serve as a central contact point that complements an educational program by providing interpretive services and human needs. A visitor center must be accessible and serve an already existing audience.

Some Honduran examples of successful visitor centers might include the one in the Copan Archaeological Park, the center in Cusuco National Park, and Aldea Global's newly constructed center on the shore of Lake Yojoa. Although it has not yet opened, it has promise of actually making money.

Sometimes centers may not even be necessary. RARE Center argues instead for quality bilingual nature guides and interpretive nature trails. A recent nationwide tourist survey in Costa Rica also supports the beauty of small things. Visitors most want decent restrooms, bilingual directional signs, simple interpretive exhibits and literature, security, trained naturalist guides, access roads, and other simple infrastructure.

If there is a better trail to building visitor centers, why do not more Central American parks take it? Because big money often determines visitor center design. Pico Bonito's Cangrejal construction was born with $50,000 from an international donor in 1994, before being cut way back. The World Bank has until recently hunted for a site to build a major "five star" visitor center in Honduras.

DIFFERENT FOCUS

Jim Barborak of the Wildlife Conservation Society, who has worked with parks throughout Central America for more than 20 years, tried to dissuade design consultants from recommending large visitor centers in Honduras and instead to focus on elements mentioned in the study and marketing until visitation increases.

Deirdre Hyde, Central America's most accomplished conservation museographer, who helped to design both Poas and Masaya, has seen time and again big chunks of money from donor countries wire transferred to parks. Donors need to move large sums of money and thus build high-profile monuments they can underline in project reports and press releases. What park could refuse such a gift?

In the last six months, critics of big visitor centers seemed to have had an effect, now that the World Bank consultants are proposing smaller visitor centers for Pico Bonito and Jeannette Kawas. And this time the folks at Pico Bonito are prepared. The old visitor center is now a "training center" in repose. They created an ecotourism plan that identifies a couple of strategic locations, and even have mustered community support.

But there are still few tourists. And despite being buffeted about by funding forces bigger than they, Steiner and company hope this time they might build a visitor center they can actually use.

COPAN UPDATE

By HOWARD ROSENZWEIG

More good news from our perennial tourism powerhouse to the south. Costa Rica, which currently hosts some 1 million tourists and pulls in $1 billion per year in tourism revenues, is slated to up that figure next year with the arrival of additional international airlines. The German airline LTU will run two weekly flights direct from Germany to Costa Rica with a stopover in Miami.

Additionally, the Dutch airline Martinair will increase its flights to San Jose. Costa Rican authorities are also negotiating similar deals with Iberia and British Airways. The first part of 2000 saw an increase in tourism of 6 percent despite being the low or "green season" as it is known in Costa Rica. For the end of 2000, tourism authorities are expecting to see 10 percent growth in the tourism sector.

* * *

Catch a flight while you can. Cayman Airways is currently offering up a $350 round trip fare for their La Ceiba - Cayman Islands flight. Flights depart La Ceiba Mondays and Fridays at 2:30 p.m. Info: Tel 440-0863. Tip: Word has it that this service will be terminated shortly so catch it while you still can.

* * *

Bike patrols by police in tourist areas -- what a concept. Bike patrols have long been a staple in many U.S. cities, especially those which have a strong tourism vocation. Now closer to home, La Ceiba has brought this decidedly U.S.-policing concept to Honduran shores. The La Ceiba police received a load of bikes and all the necessary equipment donated by the Miami Police and the Honduran Banking Association. Sombreros off to the Honduran National Police who have made great strides in recent months in their struggle to professionalize and modernize their long neglected corps. Way to go guys.

* * *

Ever wonder where the jobs are in Honduras. Tourism? Nope. The financial sector? Guess again. Banana plantations? Not even close. How about the maquila sector? Maquilas are factories that produce clothing for export almost exclusively to U.S. markets. Most factories are located in the Choloma - San Pedro Sula - El Progreso - Villanueva corridor. In 1992, the sector employed 27,217; by the year 2000 the number of workers had boomed to 130,000 and projections show that by 2002 the sector will employ some 200,000.

The recent increase in benefits of the U.S.-sponsored Caribbean Basin Initiative will be the main spark in the short term to boost production in this sector. Honduras is currently one of the world's top suppliers of fine woman's underwear to the U.S. market. Now that's really something to be proud of. Now where would all those beautiful North American women be without all those lovely, delicate, lacy and frilly panties, brasseries and other assorted unmentionables? Think about that one next time you wander into that local mall in search of that perfect undergarment.

* * *

Ya'll heard it first here. Copan Ruinas will be the host of a major international archaeology Congress that is slated to take place in July 2001. According to organizers, conference speakers will include some of the most renowned Maya experts in the world. The congress will be open to the public and organizers are predicting an important turnout of some 400 participants. Stay tuned for further information as conference organizers have more specifics available on registration, costs and a schedule of activities.

Howard Rosenzweig, a U.S. expatriate living in the Village of Copan Ruinas, is the owner of the Casa de Cafe Bed and Breakfast. He can be contacted at e-mail <casadecafe@mayanet.hn>