Backpacker Travel News

25 March 2006  Missions to revive Bolivia
Overlooked even by the humble backpacker, Bolivia's eastern lowlands have been rather neglected by the flood of tourists heading into South America in recent years, yet a new initiative by local tourism authorities will hopefully breathe new life into the country's neglected region.

Looking to Bolivia's Catholic heritage, with its elaborate missionary churches and baroque orchestras, the aim is to establish a Missions Trail tour to attract tourists, many of which will have invested in holiday insurance, into the Chiquitania region, which lies towards the Brazilian border.

Catholicism was brought to Bolivia by Jesuit missionaries in the late 1600s and yet unlike in those in Argentina and Paraguay, the Bolivian missions have remained a strong and lively element of the remote jungle areas they serve.

Describing the hidden riches of the missions, Geoff Groesbeck, who runs website Chiquitania.com explained: "The missions house rare musical instrument, musical scores and priceless works of art; they also train the next generation of local artists and artisans."

Described as "cheap" and "unspoiled" by Michael Bennet, the former mayor of the town of Porongo, Bolivia is exactly the kind of place which the backpacker travel insurance ticket was designed to go, and if this tourism initiative succeeds, it could see many using the increasingly popular gap year travel insurance to get there too.




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