Honduran President Introduces New Branding Identity to Promote the Country Abroad

The President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez, along with other government and private sector leaders unveiled a new brand identity from among hundreds of entries submitted by Honduran citizens and selected by a distinguished panel of judges representing diverse sectors. The winning submission, an artistic rendering featuring waves representing both the nation’s geography and the mythical “Horn of Plenty,” was submitted by Gerardo Midence, who received a cash prize in addition to the distinction of designing his country’s new brand ID. The colorful logo will be included in national and international marketing efforts promoting Honduras’s tourism, foreign investment and export of goods and services.

“The waves in the logo represent Honduras’ dynamic movement towards development,” said Midence, who added that the image was meant to represent the country’s natural abundance of sun and sky, rivers and seas, culture and economy, and other strong national traits.

President Hernandez led the announcement ceremony and thanked all contest participants who worked diligently to design an identity that would serve as the symbol that would represent the nation around the world. Fernando Mass, one of the judges, said: “Every submission we considered had various aspects worth showcasing. Honduras has a unique and special element that connects her to the world, and that’s what we were looking to represent through this contest.”

Mass also added that the connection to the Caribbean, to adventure destinations, to archaeological sites, beaches, and other factors were to be summarized in one element, and that Midence achieved this in his unique design submission for Honduras. “The work went through extensive analysis of these creative frameworks, and the design will live from today on,” Mass said.

Aline Flores, president of the National Investment Council, said, “The country’s branding initiatives serve to develop Honduras as an attractive tourism offering, investment opportunity as well as a country with outstanding products and services for export. The efforts must seek to steer the nation’s development with a message that unites the entire country.” Flores said that more than just a design, the branding initiative shows the world the pride of being Honduran.

Officials also recognized the outstanding work of the other finalists, including Marco Gonzalez, Claudia Rodriguez who received second and third place awards, respectively.

President Hernandez also said that nations around the world are seeing Honduras as an example of a government working together with the private sector. He also announced several indicators that the country is going in the right direction.

Hernandez added that he considers it a national honor that many U.S. leaders recognize Honduras’s progress on a variety of fronts. For example, Transparency International recently recognized Honduras as the only country in the world with an agreement to work in four critical areas: education, health, safety and transparency.

Hernandez also confirmed the recent expansion of Tela Airport on the Caribbean coast, near one of the most important tourism destinations in Honduras. Additional airport facilities were expanded in other important destinations such as Gracias, Lempira and Copan. He added that additional airport expansion initiatives would continue in Palomera and Roatan. Hernandez indicated that this variety of options for travelers is important for the country’s development, and is being achieved alongside construction of various tourism and logistics corridors.

Hernandez used the branding ceremony as an occasion to call upon all Hondurans to be ambassadors for their country, and promote to the world the nation’s development. “The time has come to acknowledge that although we all may have our differences, it is key to understand and unite through the things we agree upon, because we are all children of the same country. We have worked hard and are earning the world’s respect in many sectors. We must use it, we must work, work and work, and do things right, he concluded.”

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