Good news from the Central Bank of Nicaragua in their “Report on Tourism Income in 2023” which states that more than 1.2 million visitors spent a total of US $739.2 million in Nicaragua in 2023.
Source; Central Bank of Nicaragua – El Banco Central de Nicaragua (BCN)
Those numbers for 2022 were: 932,700 visitors and US $595.6 million going into the Nicaraguan economy. Therefore, year on year; the amount of visitors was up by 28.9% and income was up by 24.1% in 2023.
Spending Habits and Duration
Average daily spending was US $43.30 per person (5.6% higher than the US $41.10 from 2022) and each visitor stayed an average of 10.6 days (6.3 percent lower than the 11.4 days in 2022).
The highest income was generated from tourists from the following regions;
North America (Canada, USA and Mexico) which was US $215.8 million (up by 45.0% when compared with 2022).
The North American group was above average in their stay at 12.8 days and spending at US $59.60 per day.
Central America was second with US $104.7 million (up 36.7% from 2022). They spent an average per person of US $27.90 per day and stay 8.3 days per person.
Visitors from Europe, in third place, generated revenues of US $85 million which was 88.9% up from 2022. Average daily spending was US $45.0 per day for a stay of 17.3 days.
So Far in 2024 (AMENDED)
The Nicaraguan Tourism Institute (INTUR) has published data from Forbes Centro America showing Nicaragua is in second place on a list of Latin American countries in relation tourism growth in arrivals for the first semester of 2024 when compared to the first semester 2019.
The actual text from the WTTC says the following; The information from the The analysis reveals that the main destinations in the region include El Salvador, with an estimated growth of 157% in arrivals for this first semester, in relation to the same period in 2019; Nicaragua (142%), Guatemala (52%), Honduras (49%), Costa Rica (35%), Mexico (31%) and Colombia (23%).
For more News and information on Nicaraguan tourism from INTUR, check out their web site. Also check out more tourism articles here at Nica-Biz.
