El Salvador -- the 45 Minute Country

Lake Ilopango

For a small country, El Salvador has a lot to offer visitors.   El Salvador's tourism ministry has been working to package this up and attract visitors from throughout the world.  According to government officials, tourism has grown 27.3% from 2009-2014 with 1.9 million international visitors in 2014.   Tourism revenue in 2014 was $1.1 billion, or 3.9% of GDP.

The country has a slick new tourism website at http://elsalvador.travel.   The slogan "El Salvador -- the 45 Minute Country" is a little odd   (really -- that's the slogan), but I get the point.   Because the country is so small, everything from mountain ranges to coconut palm-lined beaches is within driving distance.  (Although many of those drives are going to be longer than 45 minutes).

Some of those international visitors to El Salvador blog about their great experiences in the country.  For example, Sam and Amanda from Canada recently wrote Drop What You're Doing and Go To El Salvador.    Researcher Elizabeth Kennedy, who has done important work on child migration, has added a section to her website titled Querido El Salvador where she shares many sites and experiences throughout the country.

Perhaps my favorite El Salvador travel blogging comes from Linda, whose "Off the Beaten Path" series of blog posts takes you both to well known tourist sites as well as locations not written up in any of the guidebooks.  

View from mountains of Chalatenango near Dulce Nombre de Maria