News from the ISTO Americas Annual General Assembly !
1 Jul 2021

News from the ISTO Americas Annual General Assembly !.

A renewed Board of Directors will be seated following this meeting of the Members of the Americas which took place on Tuesday 22 June 2021.

The annual general meeting of ISTO Americas, which was held within the framework of the second edition of the International Week of Fair and Sustainable Tourism for All, was the occasion to present to the members of the Americas the actions carried out during the period 2020-2021 as well as the financial statements for the year 2020 and to inform them about the actions to come. It was also a rich moment of exchange and sharing, where the members also proceeded to the renewal of its board of directors.

For this year, six representatives of ISTO member organisations presented their candidacy to be part of the new Board of Directors. Among them, the representative of the Servicio Nacional de Turismo and the Subsecretaría de Turismo of Chile: Francisca Retamal, the representative of Hostelling International Canada - Quebec and Ontario Region: Vincent Bérubé, as well as the representative of the Centro Metropolitano de Convenciones de Baja California in Mexico: Oscar León, were nominated for a second mandate. For their part, Michel Barbier, representative of Kéroul in Canada, Leyla Solano, representative of the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo - ICT in Costa Rica and Harold Ramos Orozco, representative of the Red Nicaragüense de Turismo Rural Comunitario in Nicaragua, applied for the first time.

Following the ballots, Oscar León, Francisca Retamal and Vincent Bérubé were re-elected, as well as Leyla Solano, who will sit on the ISTO Americas Board of Directors for the first time, contributing to a greater representation of Central American members. The Board of Directors is completed with the participation of Sergio Rodríguez, representative of CCC Consultores in Mexico and current president of ISTO Americas, Alberto d'Aurea, representative of Serviço Social du Comércio Departamento Nacional - Sesc DN in Brazil and current vice-president, and Gerardo Pérez, representative of AltaNueva in Mexico

The Serviço Social du Comércio Sao Paulo - Sesc Sao Paulo in Brazil, represented by Flavia R. Costa, decided not to stand for election in order to allow other member organisations in the Americas to sit on the Board.

The President of ISTO Americas, Sergio Rodríguez, underlined the important contribution of Sesc Sao Paulo during all the years of involvement in the Board and thanked Flavia R. Costa for her great commitment.
Finally, this meeting was also the occasion to welcome 5 new members, from Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and Panama.

Congratulations to the directors of ISTO Americas and welcome to the new members in the Americas!

Sabrina Urrutia - ISTO 01-07-2021