El Salvador international arrivals jump 36% as 4.2 million visitor target nears

Inside the 4.2 million visitor target

El Salvador's Ministry of Tourism (MITUR) is projecting roughly 4.2 million international visitors for 2026, following an April that brought 473,000 arrivals, up 36% from April 2025. The January through April tally sits near 1.7 million, about a third higher than the same stretch a year earlier.

The 2026 target builds on a record 4.1 million visitors in 2025, which generated more than $3.5 billion in tourism revenue, MITUR reported. UN Tourism has ranked El Salvador the fastest-growing tourism destination in the Americas based on arrival growth since 2019. Airport capacity has been upgraded to handle roughly 5 million travelers a year and the government is forecasting 5 million visitors by 2030.

Who's showing up

Guatemalans lead the inbound mix at about 748,000 visitors in early 2026, followed by Americans at 440,000 and Hondurans at 319,000, per MITUR figures. Surf towns along the Pacific coast and the capital have absorbed most of the growth, pushing up housing prices in popular coastal neighborhoods.

Remote workers have a less settled path. Reporting conflicts on whether El Salvador operates a formal digital nomad visa, with some sources pointing to a residence program launched in April 2025 and others saying no dedicated visa exists. Most nomads currently enter visa-free, buy a tourist card and either extend or apply for temporary residence if they stay longer.

Entry rules and stay limits

Americans and most European nationals can enter without a visa but must purchase a tourist card on arrival for $12, valid for up to 90 days and sometimes 180 days depending on passport and purpose, per the U.S. State Department.

El Salvador belongs to the CA-4 Agreement with Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, which caps combined stays across all four countries at 90 days. Resetting that clock typically requires leaving the region entirely, for somewhere like Mexico or Costa Rica.

Tourist stays can usually be extended once for another 90 days through the General Directorate of Immigration. Longer-term residents apply for temporary residence permits, valid one to two years and renewable, with requirements varying by category.

Read our full El Salvador guide for the complete picture and check our nomad news feed for further updates.