El Salvador’s Domestic Tourism Grew 2% in the First Half of 2011

2011-07-20

Mr. Jose N. Duarte, El Salvador’s Minister of Tourism, announced in the report for the meeting El Salvador Ministry of Tourism One Year Policy and Performance on July 15, 2011, that the domestic tourism grew 2% in the first half of 2011, an increase of 500,000 tourists compared to the same period in 2010, including a record of 68,000 visitors created during the Easter holidays in the first half of the year. It is estimated that the tourism industry will grow 4% this year. He continued on to say that El Salvador tourist volume reached 1.5 million between June 2010 and May 2011, a growth of 3.9%, which includes 462,312 short-distance travelers, a growth of 10%; 396,819 foreign visitors, a growth of 1.2%; in addition, 14 national parks in El Salvador were visited by 2.5 million people in recent years, a growth of 21%. Tourism revenue in 2010 was 2.4% of El Salvador’s GDP.