Nicaragua Tourism Sets Records in 2012

The Nicaragua Tourism Board reports that tourism is one of the country’s fastest-growing economic sectors. The increase in tourism is in part due to easier access to Nicaragua and to its more remote regions.

Tourist arrivals have increased in the past few years to become Nicaragua’s largest industry. From January through September 2012, tourism to Nicaragua increased 11 percent, leading to an 11.45 percent increase in foreign investment.

Travelers have enjoyed the improved roads and more plentiful and accessible flights. Cruise lines are also stopping in Nicaragua’s ports and will be increasing in number come 2014 when the port of San Juan del Sur finishes its renovations.

The colonial city of Granada, one of the most well-preserved colonial cities in the Americas, was the most popular Nicaraguan tourist site for 2012. The town accounted for 41.12 percent of the tourists visiting the country’s top five tourist destinations.