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What´s C.A.A.T.U.R. ? |
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The Andean Committee of Tourist Authorities (CAATUR), the advisory technical organization to the Andean Community General Secretariat, was created on May 25, 1999 by
Decision 463. It is made up of representatives of the national organizations responsible for tourism in each Member Country: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
The main functions of the committee are to prepare and implement action programs for tourist development and integration, help to facilitate tourist flows in the Subregion, and put forward recommendations for the drafting of Decisions on tourist matters, among other things.
The meetings of CAATUR are open to representatives of the national and the subregional private sectors and representatives of international organizations that may be interested in developing and strengthening the Andean tourist sector.
Decision 463 underpins the development and integration of tourism in the Andean Community on the basis of three lines of action: the liberalizing of tourist services, the development of tourist projects of Community interest, and the elimination of obstacles to tourist flows in the Subregion.
In order to move ahead in each of these areas, the CAATUR has taken measures for the purpose of removing the barriers that impede free access to the market and national treatment by tourist services and the providers of those services; identifying priority projects, particularly those connected with intra-Subregional and border tourism; and eliminating obstacles to the flow of tourists in a period that should conclude on December 31, 2002.
Other important matters accomplished by the CAATUR include
Decision 498, which decreed May 24th to be Andean Tourism Day, and
Decision 503, which recognizes national identification documents as the only requirement for travel as a tourist between the five countries of the Subregion.
The latter provision stipulates that “nationals from any Member Country may be allowed to enter any other Member Country as tourists merely by presenting a national identification document that is valid and in effect in the issuing country, with no need for a consular visa, under the terms and conditions stated in this Decision.”
It specifies, as well, that Andean tourists will enjoy “the same rights as the residents of the Member Country they are visiting, without prejudice to the national provisions on immigration, internal order, national security and public health.”
To settle any possible problem in determining the length of stay of the tourists, the national immigration authorities of each CAN Member Country will require tourists to present the National Andean Migration Card as the “sole administrative document, which should record the authorized period of the visit.”
The countries also commit themselves, by means of this provision, not to require tourists to undergo any additional formalities to those that are in effect for “stays of up to 90 days, renewable once only for an equal period of time.”
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The “Virtual Andean Tourist Routes” Project |
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The Andean Presidents agreed in 2000 to “develop a broad program of tourist promotion in the Subregion.” At the same time, the Andean Committee of Tourist Authorities (CAATUR) approved the opening of a special section in the website of the CAN General Secretariat, to be known as Virtual Andean Tourist Routes, with the collaboration of the respective national institutions of each Member Country.
The general purpose of the project is to make use of modern Internet technologies in order to help disseminate and promote Andean tourism; reinforce the common identity through a mutual knowledge of the history, geography, customs and cultures of the Andean societies; and boost the progressive shaping of an integration culture through joint efforts among the government and business sectors and the General Secretariat of the Andean Community.
After consulting widely with the countries, it was decided to have the Andean Community General Secretariat execute the project basically, with the collaboration of the CAATUR coordinators-liaisons, who will be responsible for designing strategies to develop the “Virtual Andean Tourist Routes” website, supplying the informative materials (texts and images) and ensuring that it is appropriately kept up.
To obtain the necessary resources for funding the first stage of execution of the Virtual Andean Tourist Routes project, the CAN General Secretariat submitted a cooperation project to the Xunta de Galicia. The Xunta backed the proposal as part of the activities to be carried out under the Memorandum of Understanding signed on December 15, 2000 between the President of the Xunta de Galicia, Dr. Manuel Fraga Iribarne, and the Secretary General of the Andean Community, Ambassador Sebastián Alegrett.
The Virtual Andean Tourist Routes website was inaugurated during the Fourteenth Meeting of CAATUR, held from March 18 to 20 in Bolivia, and will be updated every two months. In the near future, it will also be available in English.
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