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"Destinos con Sabor" visits Granada

Cinthia Membreño | Oct 7, 2011

The program gives loans ranging from 2 to 100 thousand dollars to restaurateurs.

"Destinos con Sabor", the funding and counseling program designed for Nicaraguan restaurants, visited the city of Granada yesterday, in occasion of the monthly launch held in each department of the country. In this second event - the first one was in Masaya, organizers announced that 11 restaurants from Granada classified to get loans. The establishments must improve their infrastructure and the quality of their service with the help of the Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism (INTUR), institution that promotes the program.

Julio Videa, Marketing Director at INTUR, stated that "Destinos con Sabor" was created to increase the consumption of traditional Nicaraguan dishes by national tourists. This way, the institution aims to support small businesses (MiPyme), an important pillar of the Nicaraguan economy, through a promotion plan that will be launched in each department of the country.

According to Videa, the program makes a public call so that all the restaurants can sign up for it. After that, the Nicaraguan chef Nelson Porta - who works as consultant of "Destinos con Sabor", makes an inspection of each establishment and determines which of them classify for funding and counseling. "This is the first time that INTUR creates such a comprehensive program as this one, which goes from individual inspection to advertising", he declared.

"Destinos con Sabor" allows each restaurant to have access to loans starting from 2 to 100 thousand dollars. The funds are managed by the Alba - Caruna cooperative. Moreover, all businesses are part of a Mexican program that provides international certificates for those who want to improve the quality of their services.

During the launch in Granada, Nelson Porta also explained that another goal is to increase the cost of tourism services in the country. This turns out to be quite contradictory, considering that the Nicaraguan tourist and the foreign one do not have the same purchasing power. "In Costa Rica, for example, a tourist spends near to US$110 daily. In Nicaragua, the same tourist spends about US$48 daily. We want to change this scenario," he said.

According to the organizers, a corporate image manual was given to the eleven restaurants. A business plan will be design with the owners throughout the month. Also, they will get in touch with INTUR's architects so that they can perform the infrastructural changes. A month later, "Destinos con Sabor" will held another launch in the department of Carazo, giving credits to those establishments that qualify for it.