Tuesday, 01 November 2022 22:36

El Salvador is among 16 countries in the world that have surpassed tourism revenues

Written by Evelyn Alas

According to the Organización Mundial de Turismo (OMT), El Salvador is one of the 16 countries in the world that has already surpassed international tourism revenues compared to pre-pandemic levels.

In a report prepared by the Ministerio de Turismo (MITUR), it is highlighted that from january to september the country received US$1,843 million in foreign exchange, which means an increase of 16% of the goal established for this year, which was set at US$1,591 million.

Turismo- RTVE.es

This amount has been the result of the arrival of 1.8 million international tourists to the country, a number that is 100,000 foreign visitors short of the 1.9 million projected for the end of 2022.

According to the State portfolio, the 1.8 million international tourists represent 93% of the projected number to be received during 2022.

TURISMO RESPONSABLE: qué es y ejemplos - ¿Te apuntas?

Regarding the country of origin of the tourists, 635,000 (48%) came from the United States; 299,000 (23%) from Guatemala and 196,000 from Honduras, equivalent to 15% of the total, while the remaining 14% came from the rest of Latin American countries, Canada and Europe. These figures place El Salvador as the second country in Latin America, only surpassed by the Dominican Republic in terms of tourism recovery prior to the pandemic.

La Organización Mundial del Turismo (OMT) y Ministros de Turismo de las  Américas se unen para

Due to these positive results, the Ministerio de Turismo has modified the projection of the number of international visitors expected for this year, going from 1.9 million to 2.7 million. Such recalculation, would represent an increase of 15% compared to 2021 and 5% compared to 2019, which was the pre-pandemic year.

As for foreign exchange, the new estimate of the Tourism authorities is $2.7 billion, which means an increase of 15% over what was received in 2021 and 56% more compared to 2019.