El Salvador closed 2024 with 171 active travel agencies, marking a 22.1% increase compared to 2023, according to the Secretariat of Central American Tourism Integration (Sitca). The country ranked third in Central America for the highest growth in this sector, behind Costa Rica and Guatemala.

Sitca data shows that Costa Rica leads with 717 travel agencies—up 29% from the previous year—while Guatemala saw the most significant rise, climbing from 333 to 610, an 83.2% increase after recovering from a 16.3% decline in 2023.

For El Salvador, the 2024 figure represents the largest number of active travel agencies in the past decade. Sitca’s records reveal that the country had only 29 such businesses in 2015, a figure that remained stable until 2017 when it jumped to 166. However, the number dropped to 114 in 2020 due to the pandemic’s impact before gradually recovering to reach the current record level.

Across the region, 3,437 travel agencies operated in 2024. The Dominican Republic accounted for the largest share with 974, followed by Costa Rica with 717, Guatemala with 610, and Panama with 453. El Salvador represented 5% of the regional total, ahead of Belize and Nicaragua.

Sitca noted that the steady rise in El Salvador’s travel sector reflects “the renewed dynamism of tourism-related enterprises and the growing regional appeal of the country as a destination.”