No Let-up in Tourism

October 1, 2007
Managua, Nicaragua

The New York Times published its second glowing travel piece on Nicaragua in less than a year, this time focusing on the colonial charms of Granada. Calling it a "ciudad of dreams," the writer, who last visited Nicaragua as part of the solidarity brigades in support of the Sandinista revolution, marveled at how much Central America's oldest city remains the same, at least in the stunning architecture.

"Truth be told, austere Leon is better preserved, but its touristic comforts are still in an early stage of development," noted Joseph Hooper in The New York Times travel magazine in last week's Sunday issue. "Granada, by contrast, is the showoff."

He's right. Granada has seen an explosion of excellent new restaurants in the past few weeks, including Safari and the Garden, which have further entrenched good cuisine in the nearly 500-year-old city. Since the standard Nicaraguan diet can get a bit repetitive, it's nice to have new choices.

The increase in tourism isn't at all bothersome to the wide range of expats who have chosen to live here. "The paradox of Granada is that its aura of antique timelessness is the very thing that attracts the restless New Agers and the bohemians," the 2,500-word New York Times story explains. "But the beauty of the place is that the different Granadas don't collide. They rub off on one another in lively, unpredictable ways."

Nicaragua's main tourism agency, INTUR, estimates that a single New York Times story is worth $1 million in free publicity. There have been concerns that INTUR has not done enough to promote tourism since President Ortega returned to power, but the Central Bank estimates that tourism is up nearly 4% from the same time last year.

Your Latin America Insider,

Suzan Haskins
for International Living

P.S. Learn more about Nicaragua in Panama this month at our Ultimate Event October 24-27. If you've delayed your plans to move overseas, now is the time to get them back on track.