Since American Airlines, Aeromexico, United Airlines and Spirit announced that they will delay their return to the country until April, local businessmen have given up hope that air connectivity will improve in the coming weeks.
Six international airlines operate in Nicaragua, but currently only Copa and Avianca are flying. The remaining four have postponed their return and according to their latest announcements, they would return until April.
In the context of the health crisis generated by the outbreak of covid-19, businessmen of the sector foresee that at the end of 2020 the tourism industry will add revenues of about $176 million, an amount that would be 66% less than that reported in 2019.
The estimates of the National Chamber of Tourism of Nicaragua (Canatur), are more pessimistic than the projections of the Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism (Intur), since according to the business association the income will amount to $176 million and according to the government institution it will add $216 million at the end of the year.
Originally it was announced that in the first days of August the airlines operating in the country could resume activities, but due to the requirements, most plan to reactivate their flights in September and in the case of American Airlines, the resumption would be in October.
Due to the covid-19 outbreak, commercial flights to and from Nicaragua were suspended since the beginning of April.
Since March 17th Avianca suspended all its flights to and from El Salvador, and United Airlines announced that as of April 1st it will no longer fly to Nicaragua.
In accordance with the directives of the government of El Salvador, all Avianca flights to and from that country are suspended from March 17 at midnight, the airline reported.
The closure of El Salvador's airport will last 15 days, which may be extended in accordance with the evolution of the pandemic, according to the document issued by Avianca.
The National Assembly approved a bill that aims to streamline the procedures for granting concessions for the development of yacht clubs and berths.
The deputies of the National Assembly approved on March 12 a new Law for the Development and Operation of Tourist Marinas that will stimulate the development of the tourism industry and encourage national and foreign investment, both public and private, in the water tourism sector, the government informed in a press release.
In a context of falling production, the restaurant La Marseillaise, which operated in the country's capital, announced that it will temporarily close its facilities.
The French food restaurant, which had a capacity to serve 150 people and had been operating in Managua for more than four decades, made its closure official in a brief statement.
During the first quarter of 2019, tourism revenues totaled $113 million, 56% less than reported in the same period of 2018, because of the crisis that the country has been going through for more than a year.
According to figures from the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN), between the first quarter of 2018 and the same period of 2019, tourism revenues decreased by $143 million, from $256 million to $113 million.
The political crisis that has been going on for more than a year has led wholesale travel agencies to remove the country from their portfolio of tourist destinations because of insecurity.
Claudia Aguirre, president of the Nicaraguan Association of Receptive Tourism (Antur), explained to Elnuevodiario.com.ni that "... 2019 is proving to be a difficult year, as the crisis that began in April last year is impacting current activities and the outlook is bleak for the coming months."
Because of the crisis affecting the country since April last year, it is estimated that during 2018 the losses of the Nicaraguan tourism sector totaled $440 million, and more than 62 thousand jobs disappeared.
The arrival of tourists to the country is another figure reporting a considerable decline last year, since between 2017 and 2018 the number of visitors who came to Nicaragua fell 55%, going from 1.7 million to 800 thousand.
The sector's guild reported that 24 charter flights scheduled to arrive in the country from Canada were cancelled between December and February 2019.
The representatives of the National Chamber of Tourism of Nicaragua (Canatur) confirmed that with the cancellation of flights, will stop arriving between 2,000 and 3,000 tourists.
In this regard, the president of Canatur, Lucy Valenti, explained to Laprensa.com.ni that "...
The union has reported that five months after the outbreak of the social and political crisis in Nicaragua, the country has lost about 68,000 of the 120,000 jobs generated by the sector.
The National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur) presented a report highlighting the impact of the country's social and political crisis on the tourism sector.
Due to the political crisis that has been going on in the country for almost four months, the airlines American Airlines, Delta, United and Spirit, have decided to reduce the number of flights to Managua.
Representatives from the National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur) reported that American Airlines went from having three flights a day to one and Delta Airlines from three flights a week to one.
In May, 34,400 foreign tourists arrived in the country by air, almost 40% less than in the same month last year.
The political and social crisis that the country is experiencing continues to cause havoc in the Nicaraguan economy, with tourism being one of the most affected sectors.According to statistics from the National Chamber of Tourism of Nicaragua (Canatur), in April, the month in which the crisis began, there was a year-on-year decrease of 16% in the number of visitors that entered by air, falling from 60,116 to 50,450.
Due to the crisis affecting the country, the union of tourist businesses has postponed the international tourism fair until September, having initially scheduled it for June 8 and 9.
In this event, business appointments and round tables are held between Nicaraguan tourism companies and wholesale buyers from Central America and other parts of the world.The president of the National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur), Lucy Valenti, explained that they decided to change the date and hold the fair in September.
Due to the crisis affecting the country, the tourist sector union estimates that hotels, hostels and restaurants are facing losses of around $100 million.
As a result of the social crisis that the country has been suffering from for two weeks, representatives from the National Chamber of Tourism of Nicaragua (Canatur), reported that for the next few days hotel reservations have been canceled almost in their entirety, while restaurants are working at 15% capacity.