ONE of the most sustained areas of Roberto Abe Camil’s work - a young Mexican Law graduate who has also excelled in research, literature, history and tourism - is to find ways to unite cultural tourist destinations in Mexico and Cuba, two sister nations for which he has an immense love. The reasons for his devotion to the former speak for themselves; the land where he was born and in which he founded Itinerarium, a company specializing in cultural tourism, which aims to promote the historical, artistic and cultural heritage of the country, through tourism.
Until recently, Abe Camil was working as deputy director of Cultural Tourism at the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), but his energies are now directed toward this new project, which will focus on two areas: firstly, in providing advice to public and private entities with regards to cultural tourism, and secondly, as a cultural tourism tour operator for the general public.
His personal story, of which he provided us with some details, laid bare his love for Cuba and her revolutionary cause.
Since when has Cuba been important to you?
I learned to love Cuba as soon as I had use of reason, I grew up in a plural and nationalist home, a product of a Mexico that was a reference in Latin America for its legacy and its revolution. I thank my parents for the love for my homeland they always instilled in me. My father told me how from 1959, the year before he entered the National Autonomous University of Mexico to study Veterinary Science, Fidel was the idol and champion of young people, not only for his feat of freeing Cuba with a handful of brave men who left for Cuba from Tuxpan, in Veracruz, but because the strong personality of the Comandante inspired them. From my mother, in turn, I learned of the historical and dignified Mexican position at the OAS in solidarity with a sister nation, as Cuba has always been.
Is there any particular memory from those early years that connects you to the Cuban Revolution?
I must have been about eleven when, on a visit to the home of former president Luis Echeverría, in Cuernavaca, I met the notable veteran of the Revolution, Jorge Enrique Mendoza. At the time, I had just written a short story about the Battle of Puebla. Our hostess, María Esther Echeverría, asked me to talk about my story with the then director of the newspaper Granma. I still remember that all the adults happily congratulated me. Years later, my parents paid an unforgettable visit to Cuba, where on every corner and at every moment, they were made to feel at home. My mother, who is an art historian and very committed to causes for the rescue of historical and cultural heritage, enjoyed touring the Historic Center of Havana with Eusebio Leal, as well as buying old editions of the works of Carpentier.
I enthusiastically celebrated the last visit by Army General Raúl Castro to Yucatán, it was a moving moment which strengthened the historical ties between two peoples who are brothers, beyond the ceremonial language, while I watched the transmission of the official ceremony in Mérida and I listened to the speeches of the Presidents, I could not help thinking of all the memories that surely came to the mind of President Raúl Castro, one of the young expeditionaries who risked everything aboard the Granma.
Cuba and Mexico face huge tourism challenges…
Cuba and Mexico face enormous challenges in this century, which is just beginning, globalization brings with it many advantages but also countless challenges, we are forced to be competitive and struggle according to our skills among the rest of the nations. We can no longer just trust for example in the prices of sugar or oil, which are determined thousands of kilometers from Mexico City or Havana, an alternative that we can certainly advance for the benefit of our economies and sovereignty, and as an option for people who are engaged in the provision of services, is that based on cultural tourism.
Moreover, without detracting from the enormous appeal of our sun and sand destinations, such as Cancún and Varadero, we must draw on the inexhaustible possibilities offered by our history, culture, traditions, literature, festivals, gastronomy, monumental and intangible heritage, among others, and in which Cuba and Mexico are world powers of the first order.
Let’s talk about Itinerarium…
Itinerarium began as a Mexican company specializing in two areas, firstly providing specialist consultation for public and private entities in cultural tourism and secondly, as an operator of cultural tourism tours and experiences, which is fertile ground in countries like Cuba and Mexico, which have an inexhaustible supply of material and intangible heritage. Hence, learning of their history, culture, traditions, gastronomy, is not only an act that reaffirms the national identity of local populations, but in turn is the best introduction for foreign visitors, coupled with the fact that it is also economically beneficial to the sites visited, as well as service providers.
We ensure that every experience is unique, no tour or visit, even to the same site, is ever the same, we provide a personalized and unique service to each person who puts their trust in us for a cultural experience of the first order. Another of our characteristics is that we do not have conventional tourist guides, our services are provided by experts in different disciplines such as historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, specialists in art history and chefs, among others. We offer tours of archaeological sites, museums, colonial towns, picturesque villages, natural beauty spots, restaurants, bars, ranches and sites that are testimony to Mexican culture and the enormous legacy of the country in cultural terms.
The idea with Cuba will be to unite the common cultural tourism references between the two countries and allow tourists to visit both countries in a single trip. Nobody would be uninterested in traveling the route of Hernán Cortés from Cuba to Mexico, with its common history.
