El Salvador’s Minister of Tourism, Morena Valdez, met with Qatar’s Chargé d’Affaires in the country, Fahad bin Salem Al Marri, to discuss strategies for boosting the tourism sector through stronger bilateral cooperation. The meeting comes as both nations continue to stand out in global tourism rankings, according to the latest UN Tourism Barometer.
Earlier this year, UN Tourism placed El Salvador among the top five destinations worldwide for tourist arrivals growth, surpassing destinations like Curaçao (+51%), Colombia (+37%), Guatemala (+33%), and the Dominican Republic (+32%). Globally, the only country ahead of El Salvador was Qatar, with an impressive +137% increase. Albania (+80%), Saudi Arabia (+69%), and Curaçao (+51%) followed closely.
El Salvador also ranked second globally and first in the Western Hemisphere for Destinations with the best revenue performance in 2024, with a remarkable +206% increase, just behind Kuwait (+232%). In terms of Top performing markets by outbound spending in 2024, the country placed fifth worldwide and first in the Americas, with a +125% rise compared to 2019.
UN Tourism noted that global international tourist arrivals in 2024 reached 99% of 2019 levels, signaling a near-complete recovery from what it described as the worst crisis in the sector’s history following the COVID-19 pandemic.