November 27, 2009 by sacuanjoche.

Al menos 110 poetas asistirán al VI Festival Mundial de Poesía en Nicaragua

Leer articulo aqui

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October 29, 2009 by sacuanjoche.

Managua, 27 oct (PL) Autoridades nicaragüenses esperan un crecimiento del nueve por ciento del sector turístico al cierre del año, destaca hoy una fuente oficial.

Según Mario Salinas, presidente del Instituto Nicaragüense de Turismo (Intur), un incremento de esa magnitud podría ser un record en Centro América, donde el ingreso de turistas durante este año ha disminuido significativamente.

Estadísticas muestran que han ingresado al país un total de 629 mil 170 turistas, 50 mil 533 más que en 2008, lo cual equivale a un aumento de 8.8 por ciento.

El incrementado flujo de visitantes generó hasta agosto último ingresos superiores a los 205 millones de dólares, más de un 30 por ciento por encima de lo alcanzado en 2008.

Con el fin de continuar potenciando la actividad, las autoridades del Intur promueven iniciativas para cubrir los sitios más importantes que ya son destinos.

Asimismo lanzarán nuevos destinos turísticos con precios accesibles para que la población nicaragüense se mueva, y así haya un mayor desarrollo del turismo interno, precisó Salinas.

Con ese objetivo el Intur firmó un convenio con la Coordinadora de Pueblos Indígenas de Nicaragua (Ritual), para promocionar e incentivar el gran potencial turístico con el que cuentan los pueblos originarios del país.

Salinas indicó que esto se enmarca en lo que es el turismo rural comunitario para beneficiar a unas 22 comunidades indígenas del Pacífico, centro y norte de Nicaragua, bajo tres ejes principales de trabajo como son la capacitación, el rescate de la identidad cultural y la sostenibilidad ambiental.

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August 12, 2009 by sacuanjoche.

Kathleen Wiersch

If you’ve already done the “easy” central american destinations like Costa Rica and Belize and want to try something a little more adventuresome (and a little cheaper), you may be surprised how far Nicaragua’s tourism infranstructure has come in a few short years.

Geologically, Nicaragua has similar terrain to its eco-tourism hotshot neighbor Costa Rica.  It has stunning volcanos, gorgeous beaches and a rich jungle and cloud forest life.  What it lacks is the early start that Costa Rica got in perserving these assets.  But it also still lacks the crowds and being a traveller there, feels authentic in a way some other central american destinations do not.

Our travels were centered around the colonial town of Grenada which is a short taxi ride (get a fixed price at the airport) from the international airport (get a fixed price at the airport) and where the majority of the tourism infrastructure is based.  There are all kinds of lodging catering to all tastes and budgets.  What we did was make a reservation over the Web for our first night at La Siesta  a friendly “backpacker” hostal catering to a youngish crowd working on their spanish - a steal at $25 a night.  We moved to a new, very small hotel around the corner which still had no website and for $40 we got a little more privacy and a/c.  We found that the majority of the smaller, more intimate small hotels, hostals or hospideja’s did not yet have websites of their own - and finding the perfect place when you get there is part of the adventure.

Although we have travelled in Costa Rica and Guatamala, we still wanted to get our Volcano fix.  Grenada has several competing tour offices which provide excursions to the Volcanos closest to Grenada including Mombacha and Mayasa.   We took a tour to Volcan Mayasa at sunset which included a tour of bat caves.  This is an excusion that must be done with a tour, still I was a little concerned with the number of people visiting the caves and its potential impact on the bats and that there seemed to be too many tours.  Unlike Costa Rica, Nicaragua hasn’t completely figured out how to manage its newly popular natural attractions but they seem to know where they need to head.

Another day we skipped the full package tour and got ourselves to the bottom of the dormant volcano Mombacho, a national park since 1983.  We walked about a mile to the park entrance where you can get a ride to the top in an open air truck/bus - ours was filled with schoolkids.  It was misty and cool at the top where there is a nice, low key visitor center and cafe and where you can hike around the verdant caldera.  Make sure you bring a jacket, the temperature was quite cool!

Volcanos are just one of the reasons why an eco-minded tourist should consider Nicaragua.  I’ll elaborate more on a place close to Grenada that is truely special and not rivaled in nearby countries I have visited in my next post.

On a final note, Nicaragua’s tourism must be doing something right because even in the recession, their tourism is growing.  In Nicaragua, eco-tourism and budget travel go hand in hand.

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