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Flows of People
Annual visitors to the country numbered more than 4.2 million in 2003, up from 636,000 in 1998. Roughly half of Guatemala’s arrivals enter via the land borders, half from the airport, and less than 2 percent by sea. The greatest share of visitors comes from other Central American countries at 43 percent. Almost two-thirds of these visitors travel from El Salvador. This is partly due to proximity but also because of the easing of restrictions on movement within the Northern Triangle (Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras) and the Central American Four (CA-4, which includes the Northern Triangle plus Nicaragua). North American visitors account for 33 percent of total visitors, and Europeans make up 16 percent. Tourism is Guatemala’s second most important source of foreign exchange (behind coffee), producing an annual income of $612 million in 2002, up from $322 in 1998.
Guatemalan laws and its public and private institutions generally support trade-related people flows. However, the poor security situation almost certainly reduces legitimate people flows. Additionally, the flows of illegal persons further worsen the country’s ability to present itself as an attractive place for foreign investment and a place from which its exported goods and services are seen as safe and reliable.
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