In order to have access to the vaccine against Covid-19, the number of people traveling abroad by air has increased in Guatemala in the last months, being the United States the main destination to which Guatemalans travel.
Data from the Guatemalan Institute of Migration (IGM) show that in the fifth month of the year there was an increase in the number of people who decided to travel abroad, most of them in search of access to the vaccine against the coronavirus.
Between the period from March to May 2020 and the same period in 2021, electricity consumption increased by 5%, a rise that can be attributed to the increase in exports and tourism activity.
Data from the National Energy Control Center (Cence) highlights that for the periods under analysis, consumption at the national level went from 2,780 to 2,906 Gigawatt hours (GWh), which is equivalent to an increase of 126 GWh.
The Cabinet Council approved several impact measures for the reactivation of the tourism sector and the economy, including the Master Plan for Sustainable Tourism 2020-2025.
The Master Plan for Sustainable Tourism (PMTS) 2020-2025 will focus on strengthening the institutional capacity of the ATP, investing in the country's tourism promotion, improving the tourism products offered by Panama and in infrastructure, maintenance and basic services.
After foreign exchange revenues from tourism in Costa Rica fell from $4 billion to $1.343 billion between 2019 and 2020 due to the closure of borders and airports, it is projected that the sector will remain in the red during 2021.
March 2020, when most countries began to register Covid-19 cases, was the month in which revenues began to fall. Statistics from the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) show that in this context of pandemic, between April and October of last year, the Costa Rican tourism industry practically did not earn any foreign currency.
In Guatemala, the Pacific beaches located in the stretch that goes from the Iztapa bridge to the Los Esclavos river bar, attract millionaire investments in hotels and vacation home complexes.
Oceana Resort & Conventions, which began receiving visitors in November 2019 and other more recent developments such as La Mar, Villas Cariló, El Muelle, Blanc Monterrico, among others, are some of the investments located on these beaches.
Arguing that there is a risk due to the Covid-19 outbreak and that in some areas precautions should be taken due to criminal acts, the US advised its citizens to reconsider travel to El Salvador and not to travel to the other countries of the region.
In the case of El Salvador, the alert level is 3, which recommends its citizens to reconsider their travel.
President Carlos Alvarado and the Minister of Tourism Gustavo Segura, signed the Law for the Promotion of Tourist Marinas and Coastal Development, a regulation that modernizes the conditions in which the country's marinas operate.
The law, signed on April 5, authorizes foreign-flagged vessels and their crews to carry out lucrative activities related to aquatic transportation, recreation and tourism within the waters of the national territory, allowing the hiring of national captains and sailors to carry out these practices, informed the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT).
The business sector requests the country's authorities to repeal Executive Decree 260, which establishes measures to enter the national territory to people coming from South America.
The Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama (CCIAP) requests the National Government to discuss and support the measures to be implemented in a balanced manner, stressing the message that we are facing a health and socioeconomic crisis that must be addressed in a comprehensive manner, where decisions cannot be made exclusively by the Ministry of Health (MINSA).
In order to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, the authorities issued a Ministerial Agreement regulating tourist activities during Holy Week.
On March 25, the Ministerial Agreement 73-2021 of the Ministry of Public Health was published in the Diario de Centroamerica. This document specifies the restrictions to be applied during Easter Week.
Central America must be the driving force behind a globally accepted document that will be vital for the recovery of the global economy and tourism in particular.
The generation of a physical or digital document of global acceptance (like national passports) that certifies that the bearer has been vaccinated against Covid-19 will facilitate the movement of people that has been severely restricted as part of the measures adopted by governments, both locally and internationally, to contain the pandemic.
After the political crisis the country went through in 2018 and the health crisis it faced in 2020, businessmen maintain hopes that tourism activities will recover in 2021 and in the following years return to the path of growth.
The Nicaraguan tourism sector has been rained on over the past three years. In April 2018, companies engaged in these activities began to experience a crisis, as a political and social crisis occurred in the country, which ended up affecting the productive activity.
Since the borders were reopened and the country began to receive visitors, tourists have purchased more international policies, a situation that could be explained by the lower prices compared to insurance offered locally.
Data from the Costa Rican Ministry of Health show that between August 1, 2020 and February 11, 2021, 209,779 health insurance policies have been filed.
In the last months of 2020 and in January 2021, interest in travel agency services and other tourism-related services began to increase, a rise that was most evident in Costa Rica and Guatemala.
Through a system that monitors in real time changes in the interests and preferences of consumers in Central American countries, developed by CentralAmericaData, it is possible to project demand trends in the short and long term, for the different products, sectors and markets operating in the region.
Because travelers must expect delays before returning to the U.S. and the Nicaraguan government arbitrarily enforces laws, the U.S. government is urging its citizens to reconsider traveling to the Central American country.
The Nicaraguan government arbitrarily enforces laws for political purposes. Throughout Nicaragua, government officials and law enforcement continue to target those who oppose President Ortega's government, the document explains.
The amount of visitors arrivals to Central America and the Dominican Republic shows a downward trend since 2016, which was consolidated in 2019 and worsened in 2020, a phenomenon that is explained by the events recorded in the extra-regional market.
Between 2015 and 2019, the countries of the SICA region, the average growth rate of visitor arrivals was 4.9%, where only in 2019 there was a negative rate of -0.2%, highlights a document of the Secretariat for Central American Tourism Integration (SITCA) published in January 2021.