(QCOSTARICA) The Guanacaste Chamber of Tourism (Caturgua) is requesting that the Government allow the arrival of tourists from the United States this month of August.
The request for U.S. travelers to enter the Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (LIR), in Liberia, Guanacaste, comes after the announcement of the opening of air terminals since last August 1, which left the United States off the list.
“It is an urgent need to be able to reduce the unemployment generated by the pandemic and financially support companies that are trying to survive while better times arrive,” Caturgua said in a statement.
In the opening of the air borders, the government has said now to commercial flights from the United States due to the stage of the health crisis facing that country, as a result of COVID-19.
Flights from the U.S. are ‘repatriation flights’ limited to foreign residents (who did not leave Costa Rica after March 24) that could be U.S. citizens or residents and Costa Rican nationals.
For Caturgua, the opening of tourist arrivals from Canada and Europe “is a respite for the tourism industry in Costa Rica, however, we all know that the main market for Guanacaste is the United States of America,” they added.
In fact, the Liberia airport had anticipated the arrival of tourists from the United States in its preparation leading up to the August 1 reopening. Today, the airport is open, but no passengers because during this time year only flights to the U.S. are scheduled; Canadian and European flights typically resume during the high tourist season, November to May.
According to the statistics of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) for 2019, the Guanacaste airport received a total of 599,433 passengers; of which 74% (440,604 people) came from the United States.
It is no secret to anyone that the economic contribution of American tourism is the most significant for the Guanacaste Region.Cámara de Turismo de Guanacaste (Caturgua)
The Chamber indicated that they should be allowed to apply the protocols implemented by the ICT and validated by the health authorities, for the safe entry and stay of American tourists.
“In Guanacaste, hundreds of entrepreneurs have managed to establish companies that have helped a lot to create jobs and opportunities for improvement for the population, but now we are afraid of losing much of the long road that had been traveled,” it concluded.
