On April 23 and 24, El Salvador will host the Second Latin American and Caribbean Meeting of Trade and Investment.
Among the topics to be discussed at the meeting organized by the Salvadoran Commission for the Promotion of Exports and Investments (PROESA and EXPORTA) are: the impacts of the global crisis on developing countries and the measures that have been taken to mitigate it; an analysis of the Latin American and Caribbean competitive situation in infrastructure and trade services and the situation of the tourism sector, including its current challenges and opportunities.
Like other patterns of consumption, tourism is changing as a result of the crisis toward closer destinations and for shorter time periods.
Operator estimates of what they will rake in during Easter Week, an annual peak in the tourism industry’s calendar, have already taken these trends into account and adjusted the supply; intraregional tourism benefits from this.
The government prioritizes making the International Fair and Conventions Center into a first-class hub for the Central American region.
Carmen Molina writes in ElSalvador.com: "The Minister of Tourism and the president of the organization, Rubén Rochi, said yesterday that they are in the process of awarding the bid to a consultant who can help Cifco create the 'most appropriate business model' to achieve this goal.
Tourism officials, in the framework of the event Routes, have had meetings with airline companies considering new flights to the country.
Laprensagrafica.com publishes: "The majority of the airlines with whom talks have begun operate under the charter model," Minister Rochi said. Among these are: Air Transat, which at present operates a charter from Canada, and that "spoke of the possibility of expanding operations in El Salvador," noted Rochi.
Minister of Tourism, Ruben Rochi, held meetings, on the sidelines of FITUR in Spain, with the Spanish hotel sector, which has shown interest in investing in the country.
Elsalvador.com reports: "Yesterday, the minister of Tourism, Ruben Rochi, participated in the 12th edition of the Ibero-American Conference of Ministers and Tourism Operators (CIMET), which was inaugurated in Madrid, Spain."
Ruben Rochi, Tourism Minister, will meet with the president of Iberia, Fernando Coto, to discuss the Madrid-El Salvador flight again.
Elsalvador.com reports: "We will insist that the issue of the Madrid flight was a project that we had secured in April of last year and that we were going to begin with three weekly flights, but when oil prices shot up, they said that they were going to have to suspend all route expansions and they put us on pause," said Rochi."
The Ministry of Tourism officially presented the Data Tour Statistics Information System.
The system, financed through an agreement with the Secretariat of Tourism in Mexico (SECTUR) is a tool which will facilitate, generate and use statistics from the Salvadoran Hotel Sector.
The article by Guadalupe Hernandez on Elsalvador.com says that: "The model, which was officially delivered by Sector to Ruben Rochi, minister of Tourism and President of the Salvadoran Tourism Corporation, which will allow the measuring of 21 indicators for the Hotel industry. These include: average stay, rooms registered, tourist arrival, rooms available and others.
The new 2020 National Tourism Plan (PNT) includes growth provisions that are more conservative the 2014 PNT. This is due to the current economic situation.
The 8% growth in the tourism sector will not be reached this year. The figure have shrunk due to the economic crisis on the global stage, said Tourism Minister, Ruben Rochi.
The World Tourism Organization (WTO) had already indicated some weeks ago that convention tourism, the main bet of the 2014 National Tourism Plan (PNT), would be one of the sectors that would suffer the most from the crisis, and the preview of year end figures confirms this.
The Mexican Government offered their cooperation in areas such as the Organización Mundo Maya, regarding statistics, training, and technical assistance.
In addition to the subscription of an aerial agreement for the Mundo Maya region, emerged the initiative and agreement to establish dialogue mechanisms between countries receiving cruise ships.
On the topic of statistics, Mexico offered its cooperation with technical assistance for the establishment of the Cuenta Satélite de Turismo, as well as the implementation of the Data Tur system to measure lay period and demand behavior in hotel establishments.
Tourism stakeholders from Central America will meet once again at CATM, a fair that is rotated annually throughout the region and that will be held in Nicaragua from October 10-12.
"This event draws sellers from all over Central America who come to offer their services and buyers who come to purchase them," the Salvadoran Minister of Tourism, Ruben Rochi, explained.
The vision of the sector for the country to become a world tourism destination by 2020.
The final review of the National Tourism Plan was completed with the participation of all the stakeholders in the national tourism sector. Said plan includes the widening of the panorama in the long term.
The strategies and long term vision include the need to develop basic airport and land infrastructure that provide for quick transfer to the various destination that tourist want to visit. It also calls for qualified human resources; as well as support for micro and small businesses, in addition to other aspects.
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.
Investors have the east coast in their crosshairs. Experts suggest building an alternate airport that offers coverage to that part of the country.
"There are several groups of investors that are planning big projects for the eastern zone due to the boost it has gotten from the La Union Port. Cruise ships can dock at the port so that visitors can tour the area," Miguel A. Chevez, a tourist consultant, commented.
The Salvadoran Corporation of Tourism (CORSATUR) will open for tender the construction of the second phase for the third time.
The bidding for the construction of the tourist pier at the La Libertad Port was declared null and void for the second time.
Tourism Minister, Rubén Rochi, clarified that this was not due to the lack of bidders, but because the sole bidder in the process did not meet the established financial requirements.