CHE GUEVARA AS A TOURISM ATTRACTION?

The world-known revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara is still an icon. These days he is also a tourism brand which several destinations in Latin America capitalize on. Argentina opens a new Che Guevara’s trail. Bolivia and Cuba already have one.

 

Eighty one years after his birth, Ernesto Che Guevara is still an inspiring personality to many. T-shirts, posters and other products with his picture are sold world wide as a symbol of revolution of any kind. However, Che is also a lucrative tourism attraction.

Argentina’s authorities recently announced they will open a new track that will connect places related to the revolutionary. It will go through his birth place Rosario and it will also take the visitors to several museums dedicated to him. For example the museum in Alta Gracia focuses on his childhood and adolescence, as well as issues related to Che’s political opinions and revolution, family and international problems of that time.

The neighboring Bolivia on the other hand already has its “Che Guevara Trail”. Tourists may visit Guevara’s guerilla camp, see the village La Higuera where he was executed as well as the village of Vallegrande where he was buried. Visitors may go exactly in Che’s footsteps, by mule or on foot through rocky forested terrain, or much more comfortably using a four-wheel-drive vehicle. Tourist may also meet and speak with people who actually met Che Guevara in person.

Che’s fans may also try the Cuban 14 day "Che Guevara Tour", during which they trace the history of the revolutionary in Cuba. The tour is co-organized by the Ernesto Che Guevara center in Havana and among other landmarks offers a visit in the Che Guevara"s mausoleum in Santa Clara, which is a big tourism attraction. Allegedly 800 international tourists visit the mausoleum every day. There are not only the bodily remains but also a 22 foot tall bronze statue and a museum dedicated to the local hero.