War Tourism Comes to El Salvador
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 01.04.07 | 11:54 AM ET
Nearly every country has to have a little war tourism, right? The U.S. has Gettysburg. Cambodia has the Killing Fields. Now El Salvador wants in on the action. According to the AP, the country is making the most of its 12-year civil war, which ended in 1992 and left 75,000 dead. “For a fee, former guerrillas will take visitors on tours of former battlefields or mountain hideouts, while museums display war memorabilia,” a story reports. Among the top destinations is Perquin, a mountain town where FMLN guerillas once established their headquarters. Visitors can stroll the “Museum of the Revolution,” which features uniforms and what remains of Soviet weapons. El Salvador is apparently the first Central American country to build a tourism business around its civil war history. What’s the hold up, Nicaragua?
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Jim Benning is the editor and co-founder of World Hum.
Eddie 01.05.07 | 8:55 PM ET
Brilliant idea! - why not make a few bucks out of this…people used to only hear about this and watch it on television…now we can all see the real deal and look back and see for outselves how things went down. Good article!
Robert Perry Broz Moran 02.27.07 | 2:50 AM ET
Good information about El Salvador. I would also like to add that not only is the civil being used to promote tourism here, we also have some of the best surfing in Central America(great beaches)some beautiful old colonial towns like Suchitoto(also with its war history), where I live, some great local handicrafts(hammocks, weavings, indigo dye, coffee and many others). For more information about Suchitoto and El Salvador see my web page at http://www.gaesuchitoto.com
El Salvador is a very small country but it has lots to offer.
Robert Broz
robert 07.16.07 | 10:26 PM ET
El salvador is the best .. centro america I love ......the culture,economie is good the people is nice.
Richard Leonardi 07.18.07 | 4:04 PM ET
There is no hold up at all! We (a cultural and ecotour operator based in Managua) have been offering a revolutionary and political history tour for more than 10 years in Nicaragua. You can see the current programs here:
http://www.toursnicaragua.com/culture_tours/war_and_peace.htm
http://www.toursnicaragua.com/culture_tours/revolutionary_nicaragua.html
Hannah G-M 12.24.07 | 7:01 PM ET
EL SALVADOR IS THE BEST! This small country has so much to offer, from the mountainous regions to the incredible beaches. I recently spent a month there, and loved every minute of it, especially my time in Morazan (where the FMLN museum is). There is actually a wonderful eco-lodge a few kilometers away, and, due to it’s small size, many of the country’s prime tourist attractions and beaches are within a few hours’ drive.
Pinoy Money Talk 02.22.08 | 2:06 AM ET
El Salvador is a great country. War will just destroy ElSalvador and its beautiful image.