In 2018 the government reported that 865,000 foreign tourists arrived in the country. Less available are figures for the number of visitors to the country’s mainland. [How does 865,000 square with next two paragraphs? Which of these figures reflect *foreign* tourism?]

Virtually all of Honduras’s foreign tourism today is confined to the Bay Islands, and especially the island of Roatán, the busiest tourist destination in all of Central America. Hundreds of cruise ships arrive there annually. The Bay Islands today welcome some 1.1 million cruise passengers a year, almost all of them to Roatán.

Officially, Honduras saw about 2.4 million foreign tourists in 2018, almost half of them on cruise ships, which, with rare exceptions, dock exclusively on the islands. Most of the rest came to the islands by air, often for snorkeling and scuba diving on the reefs.

Economically speaking, cruise-ship traffic is a very limited form of tourism. Because ships offer three daily meals on board, some passengers never enjoy a single meal on shore. And all passengers return to the ship at night rather than paying for overnight rooms on shore. Thus, economic activity on Roatán is largely left to the nature reserves and sanctuaries, water taxis, sailboating, dive shops, ziplining, bars and coffee shops, and shopping. The economy of the island of Utila, by contrast, with little cruise-ship traffic, relies principally on divers and beachgoers, most of whom do indeed sleep and eat at island establishments.

Two mainland tourist destinations deserve mention. The great Mayan ruins at Copán attracted some 75,000 foreign tourists in 2018, according to official figures. Since the ruins lie virtually on the Guatemalan border, most foreign tourists arrive on shuttles or buses from Guatemala’s capital or the small touristic city of Antigua. Most spend one or two nights before returning to Guatemala, having visited perhaps a couple of local attractions apart from the ruins. Thus, Copán contributes only very modestly to the international tourist economy.