SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- El Salvador's Tourism Ministry (MITUR) scored 6.57 points, according to poll results published Monday, May 26, by the Jose Simeon Canas Central American University (UCA) Public Opinion Institute, IUDOP.

The ministry achieved the second best score for the third consecutive year, second only to the Ministry of Education, and ahead of other ministries, such as Health, Public Works, Defense, Treasury and other government agencies.

Tourism minister Ruben Rochi said the evaluation given by IUDOP reflects institutional efforts made by both MITUR and CORSATUR (Salvadoran Tourism Corporation, the ministry's executive branch).

According to IUDOP, one year after establishing this ministry, Salvadorans had already given it a score of 6.33, thus ranking it 11th. The following year, the ministry scored 6.44, landing in 2nd place, immediately below the Defense Ministry.

Last year, the Institute's citizens' poll on the performance of the different ministries yielded a score of 6.72 for MITUR.

The Ministry of Tourism is one of the nation's youngest institutions. The results of the survey encourage the work being carried out in the field after four years of administration by President Elias Antonio Saca.

MITUR has placed its efforts in different areas to strengthen the nation's tourist industry and facilitate the work of businessmen, municipalities and NGOs, as proposed in the Salvadoran Tourism Plan and Strategy. As a result, tourism has become an important pillar of the nation's economy.

According to 2007 data, tourism revenue reached USD 840.5 million, some 4.3% of El Salvador's GDP.