Spanish tourism officials said they are
pleased with the recent declaration of a cease-fire by the Basque
separatist group ETA, formally ending four decades of bombings and
assassinations.
"Hopefully it
will spark an interest for people who were worried," said Joao
D'Andrade, director of Abreu Tours.
Tourism to the
Basque region, in the northeast corner of Spain, has been rising
steadily, said Javier Pinanes, the director of the Tourist Office
of Spain in New York, primarily because of the Guggenheim Museum in
Bilbao and the growing gastronomical 
reputation of the
region.
However,
operators are not expecting a sudden, dramatic spike in business,
to the region or to Spain in general, as a result of the
cease-fire.
The ETA is one of
the few terrorist organizations that have targeted tourist areas
and beach resorts, but Tom Jenkins, executive director of the
European Tour Operators Association, said the tour association
hadn't seen a downturn in demand for Spanish holidays.
"I don't see any
immediate beneficial impact of the cease-fire, as there was little
detrimental impact before," he said.
Although the
Basque culture has potential as an attraction in itself, Marcos
Roel, director of Petrabax, said there has been little interest in
it up to this point.
"The culture is
very different from other autonomous regions. But the niche market
for seeing that is not that big," Roel said.
"I think Basque
tourism should depend on their landscape, their history; and people
say it's the best food in Spain."
"We've been
sending people there to Bilbao and the area between Bilbao and
Barcelona along the Pyrenees," said D'Andrade, "but we've never
done much promotion of the Basque region because of the negative
connotations of Basque culture."
That could change
now, D'Andrade said. But it won't happen by itself.
"I don't see much
of a bounce of interest," said D'Andrade. "There would be if Spain
promoted that area."
Spain Tourism has
no plans to adjust its marketing plans, however.
"We are promoting
the Basque region," said Pinanes. "We're not going to change
it."
To contact
reporter David Cogswell, send e-mail to [email protected].