By Jorge J. J. Martínez
Boris Iraheta, marketing manager for the Salvadorian Tourism
Corporation (Corsatur), declared that El Salvador is prepared to host
international events.
“We invite you to get to know El Salvador; both in the city and at
beaches we have good infrastructure for hotels and restaurants as well as capacity
for weddings and conventions. Travel agents can contact us about getting to
know first-hand the destination and all that which we have to offer tourists,”
said Boris Iraheta.
The hosting of recent events has increased the abundance of land
transportation from Honduras and Guatemala primarily, natural markets for the
business tourism segment. Colombia is another country interested in
conventions.
“The meetings industry in El Salvador is on its way to
reactivation. We are now having corporate events, business meetings and
incentives. I would say that we are about 50-50 between in-person and hybrid
events; we hope to close out the year with only 20 percent of meetings being virtual,”
commented Iraheta.
Corsatur is investing in sporting events on a global scale. Surf
City El Salvador is one of its most effective promotional endeavors, attracting
the International Surfing Association’s upcoming World Surfing Championship and
therefore looking to attract not only some of the world’s 35 million surfers
but also the 120 million attached to the surfing culture.
Other sporting and artistic events and medical conventions will be
held in the Central American country, bringing in visitors from the Caribbean
as well as Central and South America.
The promotion of multiple destinations through the Organización del Mundo Maya (Maya World
Organization) and the pursuit of the corporate market through specialized
magazines in Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States (and with airline-affiliated
travel agencies) are among the diverse strategies to be used.
“With respect to the pandemic, we created a bubble of safety and
were among the three countries with the least contagion among visitors. This
put us on the radar of Canadians and the British, who were attracted by our
nature tourism,” stated Corsatur’s marketing manager.
In El Salvador 70 percent of the population has been vaccinated
with the three-dose regime. In a country of 6.3 million inhabitants, 10.2
million doses of vaccine have been given.
“We
have opened vaccination to neighboring countries such as Guatemala and
Honduras, about 8,000 doses every day, which benefits the recovery of tourism,”
added Iraheta, who concluded by stating that restrictions for entering the
country were lifted last November.

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