The State delegate, Fran González, has participated in the III Tourism Forum of the region, responding to the call for participation by the CEOE, co-organizer of the event through the CEIB (Council of Ibero-American Entrepreneurs)
The Cádiz Consortium has shown its strengths as a benchmark in entrepreneurship, employability with high technological value, a catalyst for opportunities and strengthening of the business fabric from more sustainable and inclusive lines of public-private action.
The organizers have highlighted the importance of the Cádiz Free Zone as a strategic ally, highlighting the potential of Incubazul and Blue Core as a model that can be replicated in other countries in the Latin American region.
During the event, the delegate and part of his management team received a visit at the Free Zone stand from the president of Honduras, Nasry Asfura, who was interested in the Blue Core project and the activity of the Consortium.
The Cádiz delegation has also held work meetings that have resulted in the CEIB's interest in attending the XXIX Conference of Ibero-American Free Zones and the fourth edition of the Blue Zone Forum in Cádiz next October.
Several companies participating in the forum have shown their interest in joining some of the Incubazul and BlueCore acceleration programs.
The Cádiz Free Trade Zone has stood out as an engine of development and a model of innovation and is committed to the Blue Economy during the III Ibero-American Tourism Forum that was held this week in Honduras. The Cádiz Consortium has participated in this forum in response to the call made by the CEOE, co-organizer of the event through the Council of Ibero-American Entrepreneurs (CEIB), to tell first-hand the experience of the Consortium regarding its management, which has managed to consolidate an ecosystem of talent, innovation and high technological value.
It should be noted that the organizers of the forum have concluded that the Cádiz Institution is a strategic ally and a reference as an example of entrepreneurship and innovation, with the capacity to replicate on the other side of the ocean, alluding to the new industry 4.0 model, sustainable and respectful of the environment, and with the Blue Economy as the central axis. In fact, the Cádiz Consortium has been invited to participate in this forum to present in detail all the work being carried out around Incubazul and BlueCore as success stories and models that can be replicated in countries in the region.
The State delegate in the Free Trade Zone of Cádiz, Fran González, has participated in one of the forum tables, specifically the one titled “Environmental sustainability and adaptability” together with expert speakers such as Antonio Magraner, president of the Spanish Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs (CEAJE); Caroline Balduc, member of the Tourism Taskforce of the Americas Business Dialogue (ABD); Elvin Flanco, president of the National Chamber of Indigenous Tourism of Panama; and Luis Martínez Figueroa, manager of the Chilean Rural Tourism Association.
In addition to the round table, Fran González participated in a special day held exclusively for institutions and companies where the person in charge of the Cádiz Free Trade Zone intervened to detail the business acceleration model of Incubazul and BlueCore.
Fran González has highlighted all the work that is being carried out in Cádiz around the Blue Economy and where the innovative and highly technological business fabric grows day by day with the incorporation of new firms that increase the competitiveness of the productive fabric around the Cádiz Consortium, a driver of employability of high technological value and generator of opportunities as a catalyst for a new economic model.
The Cádiz delegation in Honduras, which had its own stand, was composed, in addition to the State delegate, the director of the Consortium's Blue Economy, José Manuel Fedriani, and the person in charge of one of the startups of the Incubazul incubator 'Your Sustainable Destine', Alfonso Matías, a company specialized in tourism sustainability certification seals, aimed at evaluating and recognizing good practices in destinations, accommodations, restaurants and tourism activity companies. Its main objective is to transform the traditional tourism model into one that is much more respectful of the environment, the local economy and local sociocultural well-being.
It should be noted that on the closing day, the president of Honduras, Nasry Asfura, visited the Free Trade Zone stand and was interested in learning details of the Blue Core project.
Likewise, contacts and meetings have been held to expose the Blue Core and Incubazul potential, which have borne fruit with the interest of several companies participating in the forum to integrate into some of their acceleration programs, attracted by the portfolio of services around financing, internationalization or response to 360º needs.
The Blue Core project is 85% financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within the Pluriregional Operational Program of Spain 2021-2027, within the framework of priority P1A of the Nurseries 4.0 High Technology Incubators Program, intended to promote a digital and intelligent transition.
During the meetings held, Fran González has highlighted the importance of being responsible and channeling economic development within the framework of sustainability and respect for the environment. "In the Cádiz Free Trade Zone we are catalysts of a new industry model with the Blue Economy and innovation as central axes. Our Blue Economy strategy is sustainable, innovative, resilient and inclusive and has enormous potential to be replicated in all territories of the Latin American region."
The delegate of the Cádiz State explained “how Cádiz is already a benchmark in the sector at a national level, thanks to the push of Zona Franca, in collaboration with other administrations and the public-private alliance, which are consolidating a powerful ecosystem with its own identity and in continuous growth.”
González has presented Zona Franca's experience in the recovery of industrially degraded areas with the Incubazul project and "other initiatives that are being developed around the Blue Economy and decarbonization such as the recovery of salt flats, closely linked to the tourist environment and which have a lot of potential in the sector and as blue carbon sinks, since of the 130 registered salt flats, less than a dozen are active, so there is therefore a path to continue working on."
In parallel, those responsible for the Cádiz Free Trade Zone have taken advantage of the forum to give greater visibility to the two major events that will be held in Cádiz next October, the Conference of Ibero-American Free Zones and the Blue Zone Forum-Innovazul, which will turn the Cadiz capital into the great event for tax precincts on both sides of the Atlantic and the international epicenter of the Blue Economy, sustainability and innovation.
Thus, Fran González encouraged the participants to learn first-hand about the work being carried out in the Cádiz Free Trade Zone around technology and innovation with the Blue Economy as a transversal axis. "This fall we organized two major events in Cádiz. We are hosting the XXIX Conference of Free Zones and we will celebrate the fourth edition of the Blue Zone Forum, a forum organized this year with the University of Cádiz, where the transfer of knowledge takes on a special role."
Interest in the Blue Zone Forum-Innovazul 2026
The gauntlet thrown by González has been picked up, among others, by Narciso Casado Martín, permanent secretary of the Council of Ibero-American Entrepreneurs (CEIB), director of the Department of Relations with Ibero-America and director of the President's Office at CEOE, who has thanked the Cadiz Consortium for its response to participating in this forum and has expressed his commitment to be present in Cádiz next October "to continue strengthening alliances and advancing in the development of the business fabric blue around the Blue Core and Incubazul projects.”
Casado has highlighted that this has been “a space for dialogue and public-private action attended by representatives of governments, multilateral organizations, institutions and companies and whose objective has been to promote more intelligent, sustainable, inclusive and competitive tourism in Ibero-America, especially facilitating the adoption of artificial intelligence tools to improve competitiveness.”
"We are experiencing an unprecedented technological acceleration with artificial intelligence, automation, predictive systems, connectivity and data analysis, which are modifying the way in which economies produce value, make decisions and relate to people. Nothing is left out of this," Casado concluded.
Reception of the ambassador in Honduras
During the Honduran visit to the country, the representatives of the Cádiz Free Zone were received by the Spanish ambassador to Honduras, Guillermo Escribano, and by the representative of the Spanish Consulate in San Pedro Sula, the Honduran town where the forum was held. In addition, the State delegate and other authorities have also attended a reception at the City Hall of that Honduran municipality that hosted the event.
The III Ibero-American Tourism Forum, which was held from June 1 to 3, has been organized and promoted jointly by a strategic alliance of the main business, tourism and government organizations in the region, with the Council of Ibero-American Businessmen (CEIB), an organization integrated into the CEOE, as main organizers; the Ibero-American Federation of Young Entrepreneurs (FIJE); the Honduran Council of Private Enterprise (COHEP); the United Nations Agency responsible for sustainable tourism and the National Chamber of Tourism of Honduras (CANATURH), with the support and coordination of the Government of the Republic of Honduras, the Ministry of Tourism and institutions of the country; and with the support of the Ibero-American General Secretariat-SEGIB, in collaboration with ICEX Exportation and Investments.
The event, in which various conferences and round tables have been held with experts and representatives of the main public and private institutions throughout Ibero-America, has been structured around four main axes—governance and public-private action; productivity and competitiveness; inclusion and employability; and sustainability and adaptability—which reflect a comprehensive vision of tourism as an engine of territorial and social development. These dimensions have made it possible to address the challenges in the sector, incorporating technology as a transversal element to improve decision-making, business efficiency and the sustainability of destinations, topics in which the Cádiz Free Trade Zone has been able to contribute its vision and experience.
The forum was inaugurated by the Honduran president, Nasry Asfura, and was attended by more than a thousand participants, including representatives of governments, institutions, business organizations, companies and numerous foundations, associations, tourism industry unions, universities and experts from different countries.