The Secretariat of Central American Tourism Integration, together with the tourism authorities of the seven Central American countries - Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama - have conducted a study on the evolution of the tourism sector in the region over the past twelve years and made a positive forecast of expected 6.1 per cent growth for this year based on the results.

Central America was a big hit with European visitors in 2012 according to new figures released by the ministries of tourism of the seven Central American countries. In total Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama - received 832,567 European visitors last year, an increase of nearly 16 per cent when compared to the previous year.

Central America is becoming an increasingly popular host destination for major events as the region continues to improve its conference and meetings infrastructure. Two new conference centres are currently under construction in Costa Rica and Panama, to add to the region’s existing offering of hotels and conference centres equipped with the latest technology to make every event a success. 

Ministers of tourism from the seven Central American countries – Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama – have unveiled the region’s tourism strategy for 2012 at the VIII Central America Travel Market (CATM) in Panama. At the event, 2012 was declared “The Year of Sustainable Tourism” for Central America.