Leonardo Boto (born 20 April 1970) is an Argentine politician and tourism executive. He is the former Chairman of the National Institute of Tourism Promotion of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Since 2019, he has been ''

intendente An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...

'' (mayor) of

Luján, Buenos Aires Luján (pronounced ) is a city in the Buenos Aires province of Argentina, located 68 kilometres north west of the city of Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1755 and has a population of 106,899 (per the ). Luján is best known for its large ...

, for the

Frente de Todos The Frente de Todos (translated as "Everyone's Front") is a coalition of Peronist and Kirchnerist political parties in Argentina formed to support President Alberto Fernández and Vice President Cristina Kirchner. Fernández won the 2019 gene ...

coalition.

Early life

Boto completed his

undergraduate education Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

at the

Universidad del Salvador The Universidad del Salvador (USAL) is a Jesuit university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In addition to its campus in downtown Buenos Aires, it has instructional and research facilities in Pilar, San Miguel, Bahía Blanca, and in the provinces of ...

, earning a degree in

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

then completed a master's degree in Public Policy and Administration from the

University of San Andrés The University of San Andrés ( es, Universidad de San Andrés) is a private university located in Victoria, Buenos Aires, Argentina on the shores of the Rio de la Plata, in the metropolitan area of Greater Buenos Aires. It is a small instituti ...

. Boto also attended the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

(

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

) where his studies concentrated on a specialized program for Wildlife Recreation Management. Later at the Guile Foundation in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, he completed a program on public service.

Career in tourism

Boto has been active in the

tourism industry Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

of Argentina working for the National Commission of Tourist Security and holding such posts as Director of the Program of Tourism for the October Foundation and National Director of Management for Tourist Quality at the

Ministry of Tourism The Minister of Tourism is the head of the governmental department that specializes in tourism, recreation and/or culture. The position exists in many different countries under several names: *Ministry of Tourism and Environment (Albania) * Minist ...

of Argentina. He was promoted to Chairman of INPROTUR, the National Institute for the Promotion of Tourism of Argentina in March 2009.

Dakar rally

In 2009, he coordinated the transference of the

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, ...

, the world's most popular

Rally raid Rally raid, also known as cross-country rallying, is a form of long distance off-road racing that takes place over several days. The length of the event can be as short as 2–3 days for a cross-country baja to as long as 15 days with marathon ra ...

from northern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

to Argentina and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. The change in location has dramatically altered the character of the race. Although the goal is the same, following a pre-determined 9000 km path through treacherous terrain, drivers would sometimes go for days in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

without seeing spectators. In 2009, on the first day over 500,000 Argentines filled the streets of Buenos Aires to watch the trucks, cars and motorcyclists start the event. It is estimated that over the three million Argentines lined the race course over the next fourteen days.

References

External links

# http://www.fappu.org/ # http://www.turismo.gov.ar/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Boto, Leonardo Living people 1970 births Universidad del Salvador alumni Mayors of Luján, Buenos Aires