Regulations of the Law for the Declaration, Planning and Development of Tourism Zones

For the declaration of Tourism Zones, the State Secretary in the Department of Culture and Tourism, on its own initiative or at the request of any natural or legal person, shall form a file with the request presented, or with the resolution of the State Secretary that provides for the declaration of a determined Tourism Zone.

The person who has an interest in the declaration of a Tourism Zone shall present and express in the request before the State Secretary of Culture and Tourism the following information:

• a)

  The documents of personal and tax identification, if it is a natural person; and if it is an individual trader or business entity dedicated to the tourism industry, the presentation in addition to the public document certifying such status, duly registered in the competent Public Commerce Registry.

• b)

  The description of the natural, cultural, historical or typical characteristics that justify the declaration of Tourism Zone being requested.

• c)

  A sketch must be attached to the request that physically delimits the Tourism Zone in question.

• d)

  It shall indicate whether industrial, commercial, mining, agricultural or forestry activities are or will be conducted in the Zone, so that the State Secretary of Culture and Tourism may adopt the necessary measures to preserve tourist attractions and the natural and historical qualities of the Tourism Zones.

The physical delimitation of Tourism Zones, in cases where the State Secretary of Culture and Tourism acts on its own initiative, shall be carried out by the Land Tenure Unit, for which purpose the topographic survey system in the field, or the aerial photography system shall be adopted.

Once the request is presented, or when the State Secretary of Culture and Tourism has issued its resolution, the file shall be sent for review to the Higher Council of Economic Planning, which must complete the proceeding within a period of 15 days, counted from the date it receives it.

If the review is favorable, the Executive Branch through the State Secretary in the Department of Culture and Tourism shall immediately issue the agreement declaring the Tourism Zone of the related territorial area, which agreement shall enter into effect after being published in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta".

Publication shall be made at the expense of the interested party when it has been resolved at the request of a party, or by office when the declaration is made on the initiative of the State Secretary of Culture and Tourism.

Once publication has been made, the proceedings shall be sent to the Land Tenure Unit, a dependency of the Honduran Tourism Institute so that it may proceed to carry out the activities stipulated in Art. 11 of this Regulation. CHAPTER II OF THE LAND TENURE UNIT

The Land Tenure Unit is the specialized agency that, in accordance with the power granted to it by Art. 9 of the Law, the State Secretary of Culture and Tourism has established within the Honduran Tourism Institute.

The Unit in its organization shall be staffed by a Lawyer who acts as Head of the Unit and two professionals also in Law who may be Lawyers or Holders of Degrees in Legal and Social Sciences, duly registered in their professional associations, who function as assistants and advisors to resolve everything corresponding to the Unit related to the legalization process of land tenure in the declared Tourism Zones; two employees versed in topographic and cadastral surveys; and one Secretary. Without prejudice to the fact that, in accordance with the work to be performed, other employees may be hired.

The Unit in its structure is divided into the following sections: Main Office, Legal Section, Tourism Cadastral Section; and Secretariat and Archives.

In the exercise of the powers assigned to it by Art. 9 and subsections a, b, and c of Art. 10 of the Law, the Land Tenure Unit shall carry out the following activities:

• a)

  Apply the procedures conducive to the legalization of land tenure in the Tourism Zones, principally in the Department of the Bay Islands, Cochinos Keys, Swan Islands and Coastal Zone of the Gulf of Fonseca, in accordance with the respective Declaration Agreement.

• b)

  Coordinate the relations that the legalization process requires with all the institutions that appear to be involved, such as: National Agrarian Institute, Honduran Forestry Development Corporation, Municipalities, Technical Projects Unit, and others.

• c)

  Receive, study, analyze and declare the validity of the sworn statements and documentation that must be presented by natural or legal persons who, in any capacity, own real property in the declared Tourism Zones; and forward them to the State Secretary of Culture and Tourism. Such work shall be carried out within the period of six months from the date of receipt of the statements.

Based on the study and analysis carried out by the Land Tenure Unit, the State Secretary of Culture and Tourism shall complete, within the period of two months, the proceedings stipulated in Art. 10, first paragraph; 11, 12 and 13 of the Law.

For the purposes of Art. 11 of this Regulation, the persons mentioned in subsection c) shall present before the Land Tenure Unit in the Capital, or before the Municipal Mayors in the other Municipalities of the Republic, a Sworn Statement, attaching photocopies of the titles that evidence the possession, or of the title deeds in the case that they are owners; or they must state the reasons or motives for which, even being possessors, they do not have titles that support the possession. The statements must be presented within the period of three months counted from the date of publication of the Agreement Declaring Tourism Zones.

The statements shall be made in special forms that shall be prepared by the Land Tenure Unit.

Once the statements and titles of possession or ownership are compiled by the Municipal Mayors, they shall forward them to the Land Tenure Unit, within the period of 15 days from the date they received them.

The failure to submit the declaration shall be sanctioned with a fine of 100 to 500 Lempiras, which shall be deposited in the General Treasury of the Republic, without prejudice to the obligation to submit it within eight days following the date on which the sanction becomes effective.

In cases where, even with the sanction imposed, the declaration or declarations are not submitted, the Land Tenure Unit shall proceed to determine by other means the legality of land tenure by these persons.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta". Done in the City of Tegucigalpa, Central District, on the 26th day of March of nineteen hundred eighty-one.