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El Salvador: A Hidden Jewel |
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El Salvador is a hidden jewel waiting to be discovered. Lovely Planet named El Salvador as “one of its top 10 destinations for 2010”and National Geographic named it as “one of the world’s best adventure travel trips for 2008.” The smallest of the Central American countries with an area of about 21000 square kilometers, it is the only one without an Atlantic coastline. Most of the country is situated on a fertile volcanic plateau at about 600m altitude. Due to its hemispheric position, eminently tropical, the most pleasant weather conditions exist all over the year. The rainy season lasts from May to October and summer from November to April with an annual average temperature of 25°C. The Mayans called it Cuscatl n, the Land of Jewels or the Land of Precious Things. They must have been speaking of the magnificent volcanoes, which are today cloaked in coffee and cloud forests, so many filled with sparkling sapphire lakes. Or perhaps they were referring to El Salvador’s long, pearl grey beaches, which fringe its epic shore. While the waves are most famous – Punta Roca, El Sunzal, LaFlor, Mizata, there is much more to be found along the Pacific coastline, about 300 kilometers long. It is lined with great hotels, tiny fishing villages, and festive surf towns, though plenty of wilderness remains to be enjoyed. The mountains, as well, are home to Spanish Colonial Cities, with their fine churches, food festivals, and cheerfully painted adobe homes, many of which are filled today with art galleries and restaurants. The precious things are still revered, of course, and attractive tourist centers invite Salvadoran families and curious visitors to holiday next to hot springs, waterfalls and rushing rivers. |
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Optimistic and unpretentious, artsy and eloquent, Salvadorans are proud to welcome visitors to their little slice of paradise. The backdrop is astounding, crystalline crater lakes, magnificent volcanoes, and epic Pacific coastline. Within the landscape’s fertile embrace a remarkable culture has arisen: food festivals, murals, museums, Mayan ruins and so on. But a visitor’s most memorable moments are one –on – one, enjoying the hospitality of people who are happy to have a foreigner in their country. One of the Salvadorans’ popular saying goes: “mi casa essu casa”, literally meaning my house is your house. Most tourists head south to the Pacific Coast which may be divided into Western and Eastern beaches. The Western Beaches are home to some of the best surfing waves in the world, and the sandy shores are lined with small towns, ports and coral reefs. They run east (La Libertad, closest to San Salvador) and west, terminating at the Guatemalan border. The Eastern Beaches are perhaps even more amazing with more swimming coves and lush mangrove estuaries, albeit less developed. They run west (Costa Del Sol, close to San Salvador) and east, ending at the Gulf of Fonseca and the Honduran border. Western El Salvador is well developed for tourism, boasting the bulk of the country’s inland attractions, including Los Volcanes, El Imposible, andMontecristo –El Trifino National Parks, as well as Coatepeque Crater Lake, and Cuscatl n’s most important Mayans ruins. The major city is SantaAna, but most travelers head to a string of artsy, appealing towns in the coffee-growing highlands of hot springs and waterfalls, collectively known as the Ruta de LasFlores . Suchitoto and the Artisan Route covers north –central El Salvador, centered on the beautiful Colonial towns of Suchitoto, with beautiful hotels, restaurants, and art galleries. It makes a great base for visiting natural preserves, wildlife – rich lakes, volcanic Civil War battlefields, and the handicraft towns scattered throughout the rolling hills. Eastern El Salvador, like the Eastern Beaches, is less developed but rewarding, centered on the city of SanMiguel. Most visitors are headed to Ruta de la Paz and Moraz n, with Civil War sites and developing eco- tourism. But the region’s other volcano climbs, crater lakes, and handicraft villages are worth visiting as well. The fastest and easiest way to discover El Salvador is with an organized tour. Same tour operators specialize in adventure tours, such as rafting, rappelling, scuba diving, mountain biking and even helicopter trips. Most of operators arrange customized tours. |
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The Amazing City Of San Salvador San Salvador, the largest city in the country and the second largest in Central America, is the capital and the transportation hub within four hours of almost any destination in the country. San Salvador is a globalized business center overseeing the best highway system and infrastructure in Central America and the second in Latin America in terms of highway and road network. The excellent hotel infrastructure of the city provides visitors accommodation in six international chain hotels, in addition to over 50 small hotels. The city is famous for its modern shopping malls. Some of its top shopping malls include: Among the best museums in San Salvador are the David J. Guzman National Museum of Anthropology, the Museo de la Palabra y LaImagen (The Word and Image Museum) and the MuseodeArte (Marte). Any cultural trip should also include the National Theater, the National Palace and the Cathedral. The Artisans’ Market (MercadodeArtesani s) is also worth seeing as it offers all kinds of hand-made local craft sand souvenirs. San Salvador has the best nightlife scene in the country. The hottest spots include LaGranVia, Multiplaza and LaZonaRosa. Live shows, movie theaters, bars, lounges and restaurants are plentiful here
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Tourism Investment The tourism industry is increasingly positioned as one of the main pillars of economic growth and development in El Salvador. The national policy on tourism was defined in the framework of the five year plan (2009-2014). Two important programs are at the heart of the aforementioned policy: “El Salvador Impresionante” which aims at fostering the interactions at the international level and “PueblosVivos” which targets domestic tourism. The positive results produced by the national policy led the government to support the tourism sector with the creation of a special credit line, i.eCreditur, to finance projects in the tourism industry. This has benefited micro, small and medium –sized entrepreneurs, thus energizing the investment projects in touristic regions. In terms of its attractiveness as an investment destination, El Salvador has been described by various international agencies as one of the most favorable for investment in the Central American region. Considerable progress has been achieved through the implementation of important reforms in the tourism sector. The competitive advantages of El Salvador are numerous: political stability, the adoption of the U.S dollar as the national currency, attractive bank interest rates, low inflation rates, economic openness, equal treatment to all investors (both local and international), the right to the free transfer of profits, dividends and capital, the possibility for international investors to request a visa to allow them to live and work in El Salvador, the reduction of registration formalities. Pursuant to the country’s Tourism Law, any investment above 50000 USD is qualified as a project of national interest. The tax benefits emanating from the Tourism Law include: a tax exemption on the transfers of the immovable property, exemption from duties, taxes and VAT on imported goods, equipment, machinery, vehicles, construction materials required for the realization of projects, exemption from the payment of income tax for a period of ten years and the partial exemption from municipal taxes for a period of five years. |
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