The Government of El Salvador, through the Ministry of Tourism, will invest $25 million over the next five years for the development of the marine coastal area of El Salvador from funds provided by a loan of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) that was ratified yesterday by the Legislative Assembly with 56 votes.
This project marks an important precedent for tourism in El Salvador. It is the first time the Legislative Assembly has approved a million-dollar loan to give a decisive impetus to the development of the industry in El Salvador, which has shown steady growth since 2009.
Only in 2014, tourism generated 50,000 formal jobs and an income to the country of more than $1,100 million. In addition, there was a reported investment in tourism (hotels, restaurants, tourist services, etc.) of more than $125 million.
The Minister of Tourism, José Napoleón Duarte Durán, said that the Tourism Development Program of the Marine Coastal Strip seeks to raise awareness to some of the tourist attractions El Salvador has such as El Puerto de La Libertad and Jiquilisco Bay in Usulután.
He added that, after its ratification, MITUR will begin the process of forming the executing unit and of signing agreements with the 11 municipalities which will benefit, which will take approximately six months. Subsequently, the bidding process for large projects will also begin and will be ready to start in approximately three months.
"Last year, we updated two projects: The construction of the marine plaza in La Libertad, and the transformation of spaces to ease tourist access to Jiquilisco Bay, these are already advanced projects and would be among the first to be executed", Duarte said.
He added that another major project to be implemented is the installation of a treatment plant in Playa El Tunco, which will give sustainability to the destination.
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