5,000 tourists have taken advantage of the tourism promotion program known as Stop Over', which allows air passengers with connections of between 5 and 48 hours to go out of the airport without incurring any additional fees.
The Tourism Ministry said that since the program began in March 2015, 5,000 people left the Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero airport to do tourism activities while waiting for their next flight.
The Ministry of Tourism has announced plans to publish this month a tender to develop an international tourism promotion campaign, worth $2 million.
The tourism minister, Jose Napoleon Duarte, said that the contract for the international advertising campaign will be for $1.9 million and the request for proposals will be published before the end of February, on the state procurement website.
Viajes El Corte Ingles will be selling tourism products in El Salvador in its sales network in Spain and carrying out a promotional campaign from March 15 to October 31.
The agreement aims to increase the number of Spanish tourists visiting the country, which in 2015 was around 20,000. The promotion will be done through the marketing channels of the agency and will be reinforced by a campaign that will run until October 31, 2015.
The tourism authority bids the services of an advertising agency.
The hiring of services for a professional advertising agency is for design, production and implementation of communication campaigns at an international level in 2011.
The date for submission of bids is scheduled for January 3rd, 2011.
El Salvador's tourism sector is asking the government to correct the lack of an integrated policy that includes security and clear rules for investors.
"The infrastructure component is also important because the road network of highways used by tourists must be in optimum condition with good signage in order to attract local and foreign visitors," reports Elsalvador.com.
The funds will help to promote El Salvador as a tourist destination around the world.
The Minister of Tourism, Ruben Rochi, affirmed that they hope to get some $8 million for this special fund and "expect to close at $8.5 million" at the end of the year.
Using these contributions the Ministry participated, along with local business persons, in a tourism event in Miami called "La Cumbre" or The Summit.
During the first two weeks of September, El Salvador will participate in two tourism fairs being held in Florida, United States.
The first is called the The Summit 2008, one of the fairs dedicated to tourism that has the most impact in Latin America. The second is The Trade Show which will be held from the 7th to the 9th of this month in Orlando.
A group of business people from the tourism sector is accompanying the Ministry of Tourism (Mitur) at the fairs in order to represent the country to American and European wholesalers who sell tourist packages in the market in the United States and Latin America.