The
Honourable Minister of Tourism Mr. José Napoleón Duarte Durán was
instrumental in securing the hosting of the 2014 event which will
welcome the region’s aviation industry leaders to El Salvador and
show what the country can offer as a tourist destination as well as
its great potential for business.
Speaking
during the handover ceremony which took place today in Cartagena at
the 6th Routes Americas event, Ms. Sandra Trujillo Vélez, Honorary
Consul to El Salvador said: “For El Salvador it will be an honour
to host this great event in 2014, and we expect to see all of you
next year in our country so you can experience the warmth of our
people.”
“After
such a successful event here in Cartagena we are eagerly awaiting
next year’s event,” said Nigel Mayes, VP & Commercial for
Routes. Mayes continued: “Routes Americas has potential for even
more growth and we are again expecting record numbers to come to El
Salvador. We are delighted to be taking Routes Americas to this fast
emerging tourist destination with its impressive record of adding a
new international air service every year since 2009. Our delegates
will be able to see all that El Salvador has to offer and come to one
event and discuss marketopportunities for
the entire Americas region.”
El
Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in
Central America and transfer time from place to place does not exceed
30 minutes. It is a versatile country which combines ancient culture
with modern life and mixesbusiness with nature. Since El
Salvador adopted the US Dollar as its legal currency in 2001 it has
become an international tourist destination for more than 1.6 million
travellers due to the economic stability provided by this change in
currency.
El
Salvador Airport’s location, at only 27m above sea level makes it
one of the safest airports in the region with one of the longest
runways in Central America. A renovation project costing $32 million
has been approved and works will be ongoing until January 2014, just
prior to Routes Americas which will take place in February. This
project will significantly improve passenger experience and assist
airlines to improve their operational performance.
