Spain, Europe's leading source country in Central America, with 2.7% of tourists in the region

21-10-23

• Current figures for Central American countries reflect an increase in tourists over 2019.

Spain is the European country that brings most tourists to Central America, ranking as the seventh largest source market in the world, with 2.7% of the total number of visitors arriving in this part of the American continent.

It is followed in Europe by Germany and France, both with 2.1%; the United Kingdom (2%); Italy (1%); and the Netherlands (0.7%), according to statistics from the Central American Tourism Integration Secretariat (SITCA).

The countries of Central America--Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama--received a total of 21.2 million visitors in 2022, up 214% in tourists and more than 69% in excursionists over the previous year, influencing an 89.3% increase in total visitors.

Looking ahead to 2023, official statistics for each country show that they have not only returned to pre-pandemic figures, but have already surpassed them, which "reflects the good health of the tourism industry and the interest in the region worldwide."

Thus, El Salvador received 2.4 million visitors through September 2023, with a growth of 27% over the same period in 2019, while Guatemala provides data through August, and with an overall visitor total of 1.8 million.

In the case of Honduras, a total of 685,772 international travelers visited the country during the first quarter of 2023, up 42% over the same period in 2022 and 4% higher than 2019.

In addition, figures in Panama between January and June reflect the arrival of 1.3 million tourists, representing a 55.1% increase in international visitors over the same period in 2022.

Regarding Belize, this Central American country received a total of 641,133 tourists between January and August 2023, 60% more than in 2022. In Nicaragua, in the first quarter of 2023, the figures of 2019 were recovered, and it closed 2022 with more than 800,000 visitors.

Likewise, 1.3 million tourists arrived in Costa Rica in the first half of 2023, 19% more than in 2022 and growing above 2019.

Finally, the Dominican Republic surpassed seven million visitors between January and August 2023, 25% more than in 2022 and 31% more than the pre-pandemic data for 2019.