MANAGUA, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Nicaragua's tourism is heavily affected by the ongoing political crisis in neighboring Honduras and the country has witnessed a sharp drop of Central American tourists, authorities said Tuesday.

    According to a report published by the National Chamber of Tourism, the number of Central American, U.S. and European tourists to the country dropped at least 8 percent last month.

    Leonardo Torres, director of the chamber, said that the political crisis in Honduras has strongly affected the ground tourism by even a 40 percent, because the country reinforced the military presence at border points following the Honduras coup, which toppled former President Manuel Zelaya.

    The transit of people and commodities from Honduras and Venezuela is done by three border points and one point hosts the camps of supporters of Zelaya.

    "The tourism that arrives from ground dropped almost 40 percent, because the people is afraid and they prefer not to use the border passes to enter Nicaragua," Torres told local media.

    According to Torres, the excessive presence of Honduran soldiers at the roads and highways, with tanks and weapons have scared the tourists who usually cross the ground points to enter Nicaragua.

    Torres said that the political crisis in Honduras will continue damaging the commerce and tourism in Nicaragua.

    According to figures from the Institute of Tourism from Nicaragua, in 2008, a total of 535,000 Central American tourists, most of them Salvadorian, entered Nicaragua.