Presents Pure Surf, El Salvador Travel y #SurfCityElSalvador

El Salvador will invest 200 million dollars in the first two years of government in infrastructure plans related to the Surf City project that seeks to promote surfing and surfer tourism in the country, said the president of that country, Nayib Bukele, in a specialized press conference that visited him at the presidential house.

The main areas of this investment, said the president, are: underground electrical wiring, improving the flow of electric energy, waste management including water purification before returning to the basins, beach cleaning, remodeling of the La Libertad pier and all the areas where surfers visit, among other things.

With this, Bukele is seeking to create a favorable environment for tourists and foreign investors to come to his country. He used as an example that he wants the 200 million to bring with it much more private investment. He mentioned this using as an example the remodeling of the old town of San Salvador that he carried out when he was mayor (in the previous period, 2014 to 2018) and invested 20 million, but the private sector ended up making the investment in the place 100 million.

Bukele preferred not to reveal how much money he will invest in areas related to the project at the end of his five-year term, but insisted that it is one of the five priority plans that he and his cabinet have. He emphasized that unlike other periods of government that did hold events and tried to promote surfing, it was never before taken as a cross-cutting commitment of all areas of government.

He insisted that “El Salvador has not exploited its tourism potential, it has never done so in the history of the country. It has exploited other potentials, but not tourism.” “We, the income that Costa Rican tourism has comes from remittances from Salvadorans who have gone to the United States to work, but in tourism we don’t even come close,” he compared.

The president is confident that this can change the face of the country, impact the economy and society and directly affect macroeconomic figures, and that it will do so “immediately” given that tourism directly and immediately benefits coastal communities that are not necessarily the most benefited.

“Absolutely!” he exclaimed when asked if the Surf City project will change the face of El Salvador. “A year ago, you heard about El Salvador and you thought of two things: violence, migrants and a civil war that happened 30 years ago. We want people to think about El Salvador and think about surfing. That change of image alone opens the possibility for thousands of other things, such as foreign private investment, people who don’t surf but want to retire in El Salvador because of the good weather, it has a nice tourism industry and it is a peaceful and beautiful place.”

On the other hand, he said that his idea of ​​development is not to create a “Miami” with 20-story buildings facing the sea. “We know what surfers are looking for, and it is not a 20-story seven-star hotel on the beach, so for us that is a blessing because it will take a long time to have one and it will take even longer to have one on top of another. We want to bet on a more environmentally sustainable tourism; we want to make our beaches more paradisiacal than they are now.”

“For a country like ours, with the potential of surfers from all over the world (…) who are traveling to El Salvador, I don’t care if they bring a backpack and a couple of dollars, that will generate a type of tourism that is the tourism of the future. That is to say, to compete with Miami, there is already Miami and for us to beat Miami, it will take 100 years and that will not happen. But to be a nice, different destination that surfers like, that is easier, more ecological and it is different, which gives it more possibilities of success.”

Asked if poverty will decrease as a result of this project, he did not hesitate to say yes, and added: “I believe that the tourist income, which we cannot quantify yet, I hope will be a lot, will have an impact on the macro economy of El Salvador, but it will immediately have an impact on the micro economy.”

And he gave an example: “A young man who was currently studying high school in La Libertad, Sonzonate or La Paz, can suddenly say that he is going to study hotel management and tourism because there are clients here, instead of traveling to the United States, crossing three borders and a desert to try to reach a wall, and if I manage to get past a wall, which will be very difficult, I will arrive in a country where I don’t know the language, I don’t have papers, they will persecute me… So, if he grows up as we hope he will, he will do much better studying here and working here, without separating from his family and his roots in the country and suddenly from his beach because he could be a surfer… I believe that it will have an impact, I don’t know how much of a macroeconomic impact, but it will have a social impact and directly on poverty.”

For the president, his project will have a micro impact before it is reflected in macro measurements because the towns will see how tourists benefit their businesses.

He also referred to the comprehensive aspect of the project, how it covers more than just encouraging tourism and includes the benefits it will bring to sports and to the people in general. “When we see all the benefits that society obtains, beyond the economic, beyond simple tourism, I believe that we are betting on the right thing,” said Bukele.

For the president, the project also makes a lot of sense, especially if the country is also encouraged to go surfing, and a healthier El Salvador is also created.

Listen to the President's consultation hour, in its entirety, here: