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Tourism in Honduras

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History

The territory of modern Honduras was discovered in the fourth trip of Christopher Columbus between 1502 and 1503, at that time it was called Guaymuras or Hibueras by local Indians, was followed by the conquest of the inhabitants and later the exploration of land, which involves the making both geographic maps, as coastal charts and of navigation.

In 1526 the conquistador Don Hernán Cortés learned through díceres that in the jungle of the Honduran Mosquito Coast was a city of such splendor as Tenochtitlán, called here the Ciudad Blanca in which its buildings were completely white; Cortés undertook the trip to Honduras to find this great city, then in 1544 the Bishop of Comayagua, Fray Cristóbal de Pedraza assured having crossed the jungle of the Mosquitia and come to a white city. One of the explorers of Cortés was Captain Don Pedro de Alvarado the advanced was carrying many cartographers and clerks who recounted the exploits and discoveries on their trips, another character was Don Diego García de Palacios while He is exploring the landscapes and mountainous areas between Guatemala and Honduras, across the Motagua River he found the Maya city of Copán, he made many notes of the vestiges saw, the wonderful stone buildings and bewilderment that produced those remnants of a civilization that was evident in his report written in 1576.

Later John Lloyd Stephen also he narrates his discoveries and adventures in the work that later published "Incidents of Travel in Mexico, Yucatan and Central America." Other characters who collected and recounted his travels by the Honduran territory: Friar Esteban Verdalet, who is considered a martyr because he was killed at the hands of the Indians Tawahkas and Lencas ,.

Jesuit priest José Lino Fábregas he born in San Miguel de Tegucigalpa and who would conduct its studies at the University of Mexico and conducted extensive research on the Aztec civilization in that country, Fábregas was withdrawn of the brotherhood due to his works published for teaching in Italian “EZPLICAZIONES DELLE FIGURE HIEROFICHE DEL CODICE BORGIANO MESSICANO, DEDICATA AL ECCELESTISSIMO E REVERENDISSIMO PRINCIPEIL SIGNORE CARIDINALES BORGIA”.

The dedication of the Bishop of Honduras at that time Friar Jerónimo de Corella who with his conservative vision take the bishopric of Trujillo (Honduras) to Comayagua, followed by Bishop Fray Fernando Cardiñanos adventurer who traveled the territory and drafted several reports of censuses for the Spanish crown, so it was possible to give out a how places and parishes existed in Honduras, other of the informants exponents was Don Alejo Conde García who in 1790 he was the first to report the arrival of Galician settlers to Gracias a Dios, while he was Governor of Honduras.

In 1805 Colonel Ramón de Anguiano also reported on population census, the problems of the province and the attack at Trujillo by the British this came the idea of putting more defense in the Fort of Santa Barbara and send to build the Fortress of San Fernando the largest Spanish fortification in Central America; with the arrival of the Abbe Brasseur de Bourboug to the site of Copán in 1864, was impressed by the Mayan remains, also in a note of that year it appears as are and his companions the Mrs. Rob Owen and Osbert Salm taken pictures of the place. 1855 George Eprahim Squier published his notes on Honduras, in the work The States of Honduras and San Salvador. Squir, came to Honduras through the construction of Honduras National Railway. For 1857 the Spanish Antonio Calvache publishes a brochure about his explorations in Honduras.

Early tourism

in 1881 reached Copán the English archaeologist Alfred Percival Maudslay who makes the deepest studied of this Mayan site, then come other scientists, professionals and scholars who have participated in giving to the world, how is Honduras and many others in the US, Europe and Asia, were perplexed by the stories and details embodied in them, so they started the tourist "boom" to these lands. Another important factor was the arrival in the final decade of the 19th century and beginning of 20th century of the US transnational banana companies like Vaccaro Bros., the Standard Fruit Company, etc. who besides source work, several were the Americans who did so to speak tourism from that country to the Honduran north coast, thus forging a shipping tourist route.

First Honduran tourist route

Since the first decade of 20th century American tourist boats made the following route of the points considered most tourist highlight. With the increase in the presence of North American companies in Honduras, exoticism and beaches began to be attractive to Americans, with several moving to the Honduran coast for vacations.

Vapors ships departed from New Orleans, roamed the Gulf of Mexico, Tampico, port of Veracruz, around the Yucatan peninsula, arrived at the Honduras coast where their destinations were Puerto Cortés, Tela, La Ceiba and Trujillo, returning by Bay Islands, Caribbean Sea, go through the Havana in Cuba and return to the United States.

20th century

The increase in cruise trips made the Honduran coast a common destination for ships. Tourism in Honduras saw a huge increase in the 1970s and 1980s with the increase of American and European tourists. This prompted the creation of hotels in various Honduran cities. Another factor that helped increase tourism in Honduras was that it was quite cheap to stay in the country, given that the products were very cheap, in addition to the fact that Honduras already had a route tour.

Modern day

With the arrival of the new century, Honduras pointed to be a massive tourist attraction for nationals and foreigners. This was seen in the restoration of colonial historic centers, the increase in street remodeling, also with an increase in advertisements in order to increase the tourist flow in the country. Currently, Honduras is a tourist focus due mainly due to its beaches and mountains, although archaeological tourism has also gained some notoriety. Another attraction are the so-called tourist routes that one can follow.

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