Ending El Salvador’s Brand Problem
By Mark Monchek − April 28, 2010
El Salvador has a serious brand dilemma. The country boasts astounding natural beauty in large volcanoes, the longest river in Central America, a vast number of species of birds and plants, majestic mountains and lush valleys, among the most important Mayan archeological sites in the region, the best roads in Central America, a hydroelectric power grid, and a modern, cultured capital in San Salvador. However, tourists who would love what El Salvador has to offer stay away in droves. They are scared off by a representation of violence burned into our collective consciousness by 12 years of a civil war so brutal that hundreds of thousands fled the country and another 80,000 were murdered.
It is into this enormous marketing challenge that one special individual steps each morning, determined to make a difference for the country he loves. Mac Bernal goes about the business of changing the mind of the world one tourist at a time. Working as a full time government certified tour guide for Nahuat Tours, he uses his encyclopedic knowledge of his country and all of Latin America to invite you to have a very different view the people and land he loves so dearly. He will tell you that El Salvador is primed for rapid growth; through eco and recreational tourism, through growth fueled by foreign businesses building manufacturing plants here and by his underdog group of 25 young people being groomed to become national leaders. Can one man make that big a difference? You bet he can.
