Within the framework of the commemoration of the 13 years of the UNESCO Declaration of Pereira as part of the Coffee Cultural Landscape, an intangible heritage that makes it unique in the world with this name, the Mayor’s Office of Pereira through the Development Secretariat Economic and Competitiveness and the Directorate of Tourism, held the first ordinary session of the Municipal Tourism Council, in compliance with the provisions of Decree 1067 of December 31, 2019, which establishes the formation of a consultative and advisory body in decisions that the administration takes, related to the promotion, development, promotion and competitiveness of the tourism sector.
Cristian Toro Calle, Secretary of Economic Development and Competitiveness of Pereira, indicated that said Municipal Tourism Council was convened and installed directly by Mayor Mauricio Salazar, who has led the city’s promotional actions and understands its importance in generating employment. and economic development for Pereira families.
“We call on all the actors and all the associations with which we hope to build and consolidate Pereira as a tourist destination, a preponderant point of entry to the Coffee Axis and as a city of economic development in the region,” said Toro Calle.
For their part, Cotelco Risaralda recognized the management that the Mayor’s Office of Pereira has been developing to promote coordination and joint actions between the public and private sectors, and reiterated their interest in generating training and training processes with the personnel who are in contact with the tourist, so that the services offered by the city are of the highest quality.
This was stated by Andrés Parra, executive director of Cotelco Risaralda Chapter, who said that “for us this Council is important because it has been fundamental in clarifying the doubts that were had regarding the Action Plan of the Tourism Directorate. It is also very important to visualize that union and that articulation that exists with the most important unions in the city that are present in the Municipal Tourism Planning Council, and we value the work that we are doing hand in hand with the Directorate of Tourism and the Secretariat. of Economic Development and Competitiveness”.
Among the points discussed on the agenda, the members of the Municipal Tourism Council learned first-hand about the scope of the agreement signed between the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Vice Ministry of Tourism, which will benefit the municipality. from Pereira. According to Miguel Ángel Toloza, Manager of the UNODC.
“Through this International Cooperation Agreement, work will be done to prevent tourism for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents in the tourist context – CSEC. The work has been carried out directly with all the tourism service providers in the Coffee Region, including the city of Pereira,” explained the Manager.
The Municipal Tourism Council will meet again in the second half of the year by provision of Decree 1069 of 2019 and Law 1558 of 2012, and will monitor the commitments to training human talent, quality in the provision of tourist services and Visibility of local tourist routes for the knowledge of locals and visitors.
