Southern Central America's preparations to invest more in tourism.
The countries of Central America are experiencing mixed fortunes in attracting international tourism, with Costa Rica and Panama benefiting from well-established and dynamic tourist sectors, while the less developed countries to the north of the isthmus -- El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua -- trail behind. The countries look set to continue diverging over the medium term, as Costa Rica and Panama diversify their tourist sectors and develop new tourism infrastructure.
With the region's tourism industries heavily reliant on North America, any US economic downturn would be very damaging.
Costa Rica's efforts to open up its eastern coast could provide a major new regional hub for resort tourism.
A stronger dollar could encourage US tourism in countries, such as Guatemala and Nicaragua, whose currencies are not pegged to the dollar.
