Central America pushing for more infrastructure to attract tourists

ticotimes.net reported that while Costa Rica remains Central America’s top tourist destination, the region’s six other countries are vying to lure tourists and increase revenues by aggressively investing in airports, cruise-ship facilities, hotels and other tourism infrastructure.

A $22 million project in neighboring Nicaragua is now underway to modernize the fishing port of Puerto Salvador Allende, El Nuevo Diario recently reported.

Virgilio Silva, chief executive of the state-run Empresa Portuaria Nacional, said the harbor – which is 1,300 meters long, 10 meters wide and 10 meters deep – will be upgraded to allow cruise ships and other vessels weighing up to 15,000 tons. The port, named after a leftist president of Chile in the 1970s, now receives an average 100,000 tourists per month. Following construction of a marina, retail shopping center and other improvements, that figure is expected to triple to 300,000 visitors. Read Article