Tourism leaders from across the Americas committed to promote heritage-based tourism at the Twenty-Sixth Inter-American Congress of Ministers and High-Level Authorities of Tourism on April 3 and 4, 2025, at the Organization of American States (OAS) headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The Congress concluded with the adoption of the Declaration and Plan of Action of Ecuador, focused on the theme of the meeting: "Harnessing the Power of Heritage Tourism for Development in the Americas." These documents will guide the work of the Inter-American Committee on Tourism (CITUR) through 2028. The next Congress will be hosted by Paraguay, which now assumes the Chair of the CITUR for the upcoming cycle.
Specifically, the Declaration resolves to:
• Recognize the important role of heritage tourism in contributing to the diversification of the tourism product and the strengthening the post-COVID recovery, through building resilience, mitigating, and adapting to impacts of the climate crisis, contributing to the preservation of natural resources, investing in infrastructure, employing sustainable tourism strategies, and contributing to economic growth.
• Encourage the exploration of options to enhance connectivity in the region, including promoting multi-destination travel as a strategic opportunity to unlock the full potential of the region's cultural and natural heritage as well as other community-based tourism attractions.
• Encourage member states to promote tourism initiatives in indigenous communities which respect, preserve, and value cultural and natural heritage, support cultural exchange and understanding, include Indigenous communities as proponents in the development, presentation, and management of projects in heritage tourism which highlight the aspects of their culture and nature these communities wish to share, and
• Encourage member states to support tourism development in Afro-descendant communities that honor, preserve and value African heritage and contributions, which showcase their rich cultural and natural heritage, strengthen the socio-economic impacts of tourism, and which identify proposals for Afro-descendant communities to collaborate with tourism stakeholders to create authentic and respectful tourism experiences.
The Plan of Action will guide the implementation of the priorities established in the Declaration Ecuador of on "Harnessing the Power of Heritage Tourism for Development in the Americas", and establishes three Working Groups focused on indigenous communities, afro-descendant communities and strengthening connectivity in the region.
In his welcoming remarks, OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro emphasized the power and promise of this year's theme, "Harnessing the Power of Heritage Tourism for Development in the Americas." "This theme highlights an opportunity for us to better utilize our cultural heritage resources and to facilitate their incorporation in our tourism offerings. Moreover, it impels us to recognize the value, power and importance of our unique cultural heritage—our monuments, artifacts, traditions, languages, and knowledge passed down through generations," said Secretary General Almagro.
The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Tourism of Ecuador, Mateo Estrella, and served as a forum for the exchange of ideas and strategies to strengthen the region's tourism sector, utilizing the its vast and diverse heritage assets. Minister Estrella emphasized that "This Congress is where we align our vision and move forward together—using tourism as a tool for unity, identity, and sustainable development."
For her part, the Executive Secretary for Integral Development at the OAS, Kim Osborne, said, "The extraordinary tapestry of our heritage should ignite a movement to forge a comprehensive, dynamic and enduring Inter-American Heritage Tourism Action Plan that embraces our past while charting a course for our common future."
In a moment of reflection and solidarity during the meeting, the Minister of Tourism of Jamaica and outgoing Chair of the CITUR, Edmund Bartlett, led participants in a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the recent earthquake in Thailand and Myanmar.
The event reaffirmed the role of the OAS and its Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI) in advancing inclusive, sustainable, and culturally grounded tourism models that promote social resilience, economic opportunity, and regional cooperation.
For official documents, photos, and additional details, please visit: here
Reference: E-016/25
