Nicaragua, Tourism Materials, Equipment, Vehicle, and Property Taxes for Tourism-Related Activities

Nicaragua, tourism materials, equipment, vehicle, and property taxes for tourism-related activities. With these policy Carter A. Hunt changes, international arrivals grew by 340 % Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism between 1997 and 2012 (from 358,000 to 1.2 Management, The Pennsylvania State million), while revenues quintupled from $74.4 University, Pennsylvania, USA to $421.5 million. Ports in San Juan del Sur and Corinto received up to 60 cruiseships per year (INTUR 2012). The country was one of few to Nicaragua is the largest country in Central Amer- experience tourism growth during the global eco- ica (130,370 km2; 509,336 mi2) with a population nomic recession in 2008 and 2009 (UNWTO of 5,788,531 (Figure 1). The 2012 GDP was 2010) and currently has the 2nd highest projected US$27.1 billion. Along with coffee, beef, tex- growth in Latin America. According to WTTC tiles, and gold, tourism is a principal export (2014), in 2013 the total contribution of tourism accounting for $421.5 million in foreign to Nicaragua was 9.1 % of GDP ($1.01 billion) exchange (INTUR 2012). Natural amenities and 3.3 % of employment (195,500 jobs). include Central America’s largest lake, Outside the capital of Managua, tourism is landscape-dominating volcanoes, highland for- concentrated in the colonial city of Granada, on ests, white sand beaches, and the largest neotrop- Lake Nicaragua’s twin-volcano island of ical rainforest outside of Amazonia. A Chinese Ometepe, and along the Pacific Coast. Surfing is company recently secured rights to develop a a popular activity near San Juan del Sur (INTUR transoceanic canal likely to drastically alter the 2012), where unregulated growth is driven by country’s economic, environmental, and geopo- investments of internationals and elite litical situation (Meyer and Huete-Pe´rez 2014). Nicaraguans. Local residents thus question tour- The 1978–1979 Sandinista Revolution ended ism’s contributions to wealth disparities, human the 40-year Somoza dictatorship. The subsequent wellbeing, and protection of nearby environ- decade of counterrevolutionary conflict brought ments (Hunt 2011). Yet immense natural tourism to a halt. With the end of hostilities and resources, rampant poverty, and perpetual under- the Sandinista loss in the 1990 election, the gov- employment provide Nicaragua with tourism- ernment advocated tourism. Ley de Incentivos related ▶ conservation and ▶ development para la Industria Turı´stica and Ley General de opportunities. The Universidad Centroamericana Turismo (tourism laws passed in 1999 and 2004, and Universidad Nacional Autońoma de Nicara- respectively) provide international and local gua offer tourism degree programs. Tourism developers exoneration from importation, sales, ▶ training is further supported by the

# Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 J. Jafari, H. Xiao (eds.), Encyclopedia of Tourism, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_618-1 2 Nicaragua, tourism

Nicaragua, tourism, 050100 km Figure 1 Map of 87 Nicaragua 050100 mi 15 15 HONDURAS Cayos Miskitos Puerto Cabezas

Golfo de Mogoton Fonseca Caribbean Estelí Matagalpa Sea Chinandega León Lago de ISLAS DEL Corinto Managua MAÍZ MANAGUA El Bluff 12 Bluefields 12 Granada Lago de Rivas Nicaragua San NORTH Carlos PACIFIC OCEAN R io San Juan COSTA RICA 87 84 nongovernmental sector. Under-regulated development and sparse opportunities for local resi- References dents remain key challenges to tourism’s ▶ sustainability. While research prospects are Hunt, C. 2011 Passport to Development? Local Percep- tions of the Outcomes of Post-Socialist Tourism Policy many, the transoceanic canal will feature promi- and Growth in Nicaragua. Tourism Planning and nently in research undertaken in Nicaragua in the Development 8:265-279. coming years. INTUR 2012 Boletı´n de Estadı´sticas de Turismo. Mana- gua: Instituto Nacional de Turismo. See also ▶ ▶ Meyer, A., and J. Huete-Pe´rez 2014 Nicaragua Canal Coastal tourism, community Could Wreak Environmental Ruin. Nature 306:287- development, ▶ developing country, ▶ nature 289. tourism, ▶ rural tourism. UNWTO, 2010, Tourism: An Economic and Social Phe- nomenon. Madrid: World Tourism Organization. WTTC 2014 Travel and Tourism Economic Impact: Nic- aragua. London: World Travel and Tourism Council.