El Salvador Tourism Yields 20 Million Dollars In Revenues

The President of El Salvador, Elias Antonio Saca, and the Minister of Tourism, Ruben Rochi, expressed satisfaction with the large number of Salvadorean tourists who chose to stay in the country to enjoy the Easter holidays, celebrated March 15-24.

The head of tourism reported that 59,340 tourists visited El Salvador during the holidays, arriving by sea and land, which represented a 17.5% increase over last year. The rise generated 20 million dollars in revenues, in comparison with 18 million last year.

“There has been a 24.2% drop in departures, which means that Salvadoreans are preferring to stay at home, something we have witnessed on our beaches and in our mountains throughout the Easter season, when there has been a larger flow of tourists”, the official reported.

According to Minister Rochi, a total 70,780 Salvadoreans left the country during the Easter season, a 24.2% drop over last year, when 93,364 chose to travel abroad (32.4% rise with respect to the previous year).

In turn, the Salvadorean Tourism Institute (ISTU) reported that all parks, with the exception of Los Chorros, recorded a 31.7% increase. None underwent a reduction compared to last year. “If we were to add the 59,270 tourists who visited Los Chorros, this would give us a 57.7% increase in the total number of visitors to ISTU’s 14 parks. The important thing to point out here is that despite the fact that Los Chorros generated an unexpectedly high number of tourists, it was not to the detriment of any of the other 13 ISTU parks,” explained Rochi.

Contact:
Ana Beatriz Flores

*From: http://sev.prnewswire.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

• In El Salvador, a grim reflection, and a glimmer of hope – The president has bestowed the country’s highest honor on six Jesuit priests massacred 20 years ago, more evidence that peaceful change is possible, if slow to come.
• Los Angeles council members to make donations for El Salvador storm victims
• Western Union Foundation Donates $10,000 to Help Victims of Hurricane Ida in El Salvador
• MoneyGram International Temporarily Reduces Money Transfer Fees from the United States and Canada to El Salvador – MoneyGram International Reduce Temporalmente Sus Tarifas De Envíos de Dinero Desde Estados Unidos y Canadá A El Salvador
• After accidental deportation, critics say immigration officials making mistakes – After a Salvadoran man was mistakenly deported, immigration rights activists have complained about toughened enforcement by authorities.
• The estimated damage caused by the Nov. 7-8 floods and mudslides to El Salvador’s infrastructure has climbed to $880 million, the country’s public works minister said Tuesday.
• Death toll in El Salvador storms rises to 192
• The official death toll from the floods caused by torrential rains last weekend stands at 157, with 14,166 people still in shelters – El Salvador
• Donations from countries and organizations began to be distributed on Wednesday in El Salvador among those affected by last weekend’s flooding and mudslides that killed 157 people, resulted in 58 people missing and hundreds of damaged homes.
• Seven children and one adult were reported missing after a Baptist church in El Salvador collapsed amid heavy rains and flooding caused by Hurricane Ida Nov. 8.
• Chávez’s Next Target: El Salvador – Twenty-first century socialism may have stumbled in Honduras but it is being tried again in El Salvador.
• UNICEF assisting victims of flooding in El Salvador
• At least 10,000 Salvadorans are in urgent need of food aid after devastating floods and mudslides that damaged crops, destroyed homes and killed 130 people, the U.N. World Food Program
• Salvadoran community organizations in Los Angeles have mobilized to help their country after a tropical storm over the weekend left at least 130 people dead in the small Central American nation.
• El Salvador Named Top 10 Travel Destination for 2010 by Lonely Planet
• El Salvador’s president says the country will award its highest honor to six Jesuit priests murdered by the army in 1989.
• Preserving El Salvador’s historic memory: Organizer explains big L.A. event – “Preservación de la Memoria Histórica Salvadoreña”
• Former Chicagoan brings us a taste of El Salvador A new coffee: Finca de Angeles Coffee – Stephanie Andersen-Samayoa
• The lakes and volcanoes of El Salvador – offers its few visitors a big welcome – plus volcano walks, surfing and seafood
• The political crisis in Honduras is having a crippling effect on trade in Central America, with Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica losing millions of dollars of trade every day.