International tourism in Central America - statistics & facts
The Central American isthmus is composed of seven countries covering an area of roughly 520 thousand square kilometers. It borders Mexico in the north, Colombia in the south, and the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans in the west and the east, respectively. The region’s mild temperatures, natural diversity, and pre-Columbian heritage attract millions of international tourists. In the four years before the COVID-19 pandemic, the combined inbound tourism volume in these countries was at around 11 million arrivals annually – a threefold growth versus the figures registered in the mid-1990s. However, the repercussions of the global health crisis were also harshly felt in that corner of the world.
