QCOSTARICA – Costa Rica received, during the first six months of this year, 497,449 tourists by air, reported the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT) – Costa Rican Tourism Board.
73% of vacationers who arrive in the country did so from the United States, that is, 362,435 people.
Meanwhile, 14% came from Europe, that is, 69,642 travelers, the ICT reported Tuesday, July 6 in a press release.
Statistics from the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (DGME) – Costa Rica’s immigration service – show an improvement in the arrival of tourists, especially in June, when 117,527 people arrived by air.
During the first three months of last year, there was a high influx of tourists to the country, which plummeted as of April as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, following the shut down of all borders in lat March.
When the results are compared with the first six months of 2019, the decline is even greater, when 1.3 million vacationers arrived in that period.
Gustavo Segura, Minister of Tourism, stressed the work, in recent months had led to the gradual recovery of tourism activity.
For the second half of the year, the decision to restart cruise tourism is expected to boost the arrival of visitors.
The ICT highlighted that at the Daniel Oduber Quirós airport the recovery in June was particularly positive, representing 92% of what was received in the same month of 2019. In the case of the Juan Santamaría (San Jose) airport it was 50%.
