Central America and the Caribbean stand out among the world subregions that showed a faster recovery to pre-pandemic levels in international tourist arrivals from January to September 2022.
With 82% recovery, both subregions join Northern Europe (81%), Southern Mediterranean Europe (86%), Western Europe (88%) on that list, indicates the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in its last barometer of tourism.
Among the destinations in the Central American region that reported data on international arrivals in the first seven to nine months of 2022 are Honduras with 15%, the Dominican Republic (7%) and El Salvador (1%).
Globally, UNWTO estimates that 700 million tourists traveled internationally between January and September, more than double (133%) the number recorded for the same period in 2021. This is equivalent to 63% of 2019 levels and puts the sector on track to reach 65% of its pre-pandemic levels this year.
COUNTRIES OF THE REGION THAT EXCEEDED THE TARGET
According to estimates from the Honduran Tourism Institute (IHT), the arrival of visitors to the country from January to September 2022 exceeded 1.3 million. This figure represents 226.8% growth when compared to the arrival of visitors during the same period in 2021, that is, 405,574 more visitors.
The arrival of visitors generated an income of foreign currency from tourism of some US$ 391.5 million, which meant an interannual growth of 115.6%. The United States was the main issuing market, followed by El Salvador and Nicaragua.
In El Salvador, at the ninth month of the year, the authorities had already registered 92% of the goal set at the beginning of the year in the arrival of international visitors of 1.7 million. In the same period, foreign currency income from tourism grew 49% year-on-year, equivalent to more than US$1.6 billion.
For its part, the Dominican Republic continues to show figures for tourist arrivals that are higher than in other years. Between January and October, more than 5.8 million visitors arrived, generating US$7.278 billion, reported the Ministry of Tourism.
THE TREND IN THE REST OF THE COUNTRIES
The Guatemalan Tourism Institute (Inguat) reported that last September the number of tourists who entered the country already reached 79.92% of the numbers reported for 2019. Therefore, if this trend continues, local authorities hope that next year the numbers obtained before the pandemic may be exceeded.
Regarding the foreign currency received from tourism, according to the Bank of Guatemala, US$155.36 million have accumulated as of that same month of the year, which still represents 78.14% of the income received in 2019 as of that date.
Costa Rica recorded the entry of 1.7 million tourists between January and September of this year, while, in the same period of 2019, visits reached 2.3 million. This implies that the industry that contributes 6.3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the Costa Rican Tourism Institute, is close to reaching the goal.
Days ago, the co-director of the Nicaraguan Tourism Institute (Intur), Anasha Campbell, told local media that the country as of September of this year already had more than 500,000 international visitors. “We believe that we are going to close the year with between 750,000 and 800,000 tourists, which represents between 60 and 70% of what we had in 2019.”
Meanwhile, the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP) reported from January to August the entry through the main ports of entry of more than 1.1 million visitors, which represented an increase of 219.5% compared to the same period of 2021. The country expects to close the year with 1.8 million international tourists, a level similar to that of 2019.
With information from Bloomberg Línea