The geographical position of El Salvador, the excellent climate, its vast natural and human resources, allow it to become one of the countries in the region most visited by international tourists.
In the August holiday season alone, the country received more than 71,000 international visitors, which doubles the figures registered in 2021, and represents a growth of 110%, and 15% compared to 2019, government authorities confirmed yesterday. during the presentation of the results of that week.
The Ministry of Tourism (Mitur) detailed that in that week international tourists left $69 million in foreign currency, which reflects a growth of 7.5% compared to 2021; and 64% growth compared to what was registered before the pandemic.
According to Mitur, 38% of tourists came from the US market, 28% from Guatemala, 22% from Honduras and 12% from other destinations.
The average stay of tourists was six nights and the expenditure per person was $160 per day, explained the Minister of Tourism, Morena Valdez, who also highlighted that El Salvador is one of the only countries in the region that has managed to recover tourism.
“We are one of the only countries that have been able not only to recover the income of foreign exchange and visitors, but we have also recovered in year zero of the pandemic,” she said.
In this regard, the president of the Autonomous Executive Port Commission (CEPA), Federico Anliker, highlighted that 400 commercial passenger flight operations were carried out at the airport, an increase of 6.2% compared to the same period in 2021. The flights came from United States, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, among other countries in the world.
“El Salvador has positioned itself in a different way, especially as a world-class tourist destination, thanks to the strategy in managing the COVID-19 pandemic; to the security strategy; among other actions developed by our Government, such as Surf City and the implementation of bitcoin as legal tender, since this opened the doors for the arrival of more tourists, and above all that those who use the virtual currency decided to come to visit the country,” Anliker said.
Anliker also highlighted that they exceeded two million passengers served so far in 2022, between arrivals, departures, transits and transfers, an increase of 60% compared to the year 2021.
While the director of Immigration and Immigration, Ricardo Cucalón, added that, during the holidays, the land borders experienced an increase of 205%, with a total of 238,778 entries and exits, while the previous year they were 78,174.
The director of Customs, Samadhy Martínez, commented that from July 30 to August 8, 32,000 metric tons of merchandise entered the country.
On the other hand, more than 350,000 visitors were registered in the national parks, which represents $11.6 million in spending.