Diario las Américas Newspaper, September 9, 1956, Page 22

Edward G. Bern, a Vice President of Panagra, addressed delegates to Inter-American Travel Con- gress, AS most people know, we in the airline and steamship business de- vote a great deal of time and money in endeavoring to extend man’s horizons through the promo- tion of travel, and I would like to beg your indulgence in allowing me to tell you how we feel about the work you are doing and what we believe still remains to be done to get more people to travel to Central and South America. I think most of you will agree with me when I say that the area with the greatest tourist potential in the world is in the Western Hemisphere. Right here on this side of the world we have the phy- sical attractions and the great numbers of people with money and leisure time to travel, and both within easy access of each other. But with a few notable exceptions in the Caribbean area and México, international travel in this hemi- sphere is not being properly pro- moted. Undeveloped tourism will cost the countries of Central and South America over $200,000,000 this year. This, gentlemen, is a state- ment of fact. It is officially estim- ated that during 1956 more than two million United States citizens will travel abroad and spend over $2,000,000,000. But unless the Cen- tral and South American: nations individually and collectively do something about it, and do it quick- ly, they will again find that the tourists will pass them by. While it is true that over a mil- lion U. S. tourists will travel to Latin America in 1956, the bulk of this total will go to México and the Caribbean area — for which we are very happy. But only about 50,- 000 will go to South America, and no more than 40,000 to Central America, Shas Sl TPS LPES EE Shei eS asa ee rican travel prospects. ety eee eo ee at oe bes ee tes The four-centuries-old Cathedral in Lima typifies $1,500,000 SPENT ON FOREIGN TRAVEL Now talking about the American traveling public, today, people in the U. S. have more time on their hands than ever before. They work shorter hours. They earn more money. They get earlier retirement. They enjoy longer vacations. And they spend about $32,000,000,000 on leisure. Let me repeat that, thirty-two billion dollars. Of that staggering amount, nearly $10,- 000,000,000 is spent on vacations and weekends. About $1,500,000,- 000 is spent annually on foreign travel. There is much travel money in the U. S. crying to be spent. One third of the families have an annual income of $5,000 or more. And with the Pan American “pay later” travel plan, this means that these families become South Ame- At Vifia del Mar, Chile’s gay Pacific coast resort, tourists enjoy visiting the swank casino and driving in a picturesque carriage. Page 16 HEMISPHERE SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1956. +o orammaimanne stem MARSA FE RENE ASRSO aepresass 8 the historic riches found in South America, Lost:$200,000,000 —that is what undeveloped tourism will cost Central and South America this year, Edward G. Bern, a Vice President of Panagra, told delegates to the Sixth Inter-American Travel Congress, recently held in Costa Rica. Excerpts from his speech followt These are people who have money to travel and love to be on the go all the time. They are travel- ers at heart who dream of taking trips away from home. Our govern- ment encourages travel abroad and the spending of travel money in the friendly, peace-loving countries of the world. By 1960 more than 4,000,000 U. S. citizens will travel abroad. Looking ahead to this increase, the scheduled airlines of the. U. S. have committed themselves to buy about $1,500,000,000 of new air- craft equipment. And Grace Line Inc. and Moore-McCormack Lines, Inc., are spending $548,000,000 on new ships. This represents a tre- mendous investment in the future of air and sea transportation and growth in international travel. If the management of the air- lines have enough faith in the fut- ure of travel to invest fifteen hun- dred million dollars on new air- craft, can’t you see this Tourist Congress is on the right track, and any appropriation which your gov- ernments make for the promotion of tourism is a worthy investment in their future? In a recent survey conducted by a leading magazine in the U. S., more than 40 per cent of the peo- ple questioned said they were plan- ning a vacation outside the U. S. But when it came to giving the order of their preference as a vaca- tion goal, these same _ readers selected South America a poor fifteenth choice. . .Central America was even farther down the scale. The countries which came out on top in the survey were those that have done the most promotion and advertising, and where tourism is a top industry. I- bring this authoritative survey to your attention because it simply points out what you gentlemen know they are welcome. And, sad to relate, most of them do not know about Central and South America. The countries of Central and South America are the nearest, as yet, undeveloped areas for travel and the next tourist frontier for the U. S. traveler. Having traveled extensively all over Latin America’ and recently returned from a tour of these countries I can say with full sincerity and conviction that these countries are ready to be- have known all along: that the peo- ple of the U. S. are travelminded but will go only to those places they know best and where they come some of the most desirable and popular vacation places in the world. I think these countries are on the threshold of a golden age in travel. Before long tourism from the U. S. to Latin America should reach the two million mark. DEVELOPMENT OF TRAVEL TO SOLTH AMERICA My company has always given me full support in the development of travel to South America and is so confident and has such great faith in the future of tourism in this The new ships and services being provided by U. S. companies such as Grace Line are encouraging greater travel abroad by U. S. tourists,