QCOSTARICA (EUROPA PRESS) Costa Rica expects to reach 3.8 million visitors in 2027, generating some US$4.9 billion dollars in foreign currency, with 1.5 million more tourists than those reached in the year 2022, when the figures increased by 70% compared to the previous year.
As part of the Plan Nacional de Turismo de Costa Rica (Costa Rica National Tourism Plan) for the period 2022-2027, the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT) has set itself the growth and improvement of the tourism offer as objectives, this sector being the engine of economic development in the country.
Among others, this plan includes the promotion of a “resilient” tourism activity that sustainably takes advantage of the country’s tourism and cultural heritage. In addition, it seeks to focus on local tourism development, sustainable production and the fight against climate change.
Regarding local development, the country has the objective of “continuing to improve the quality of life of the communities in the different regions”, which involves promoting the distribution of demand in the 32 Tourist Development Centers of Costa Rica.
According to figures from Costa Rica’s immigration service, the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería, DGME), Spain ranks as the fifth destination for visitors to the country, 34.3% more last year than in 2021.
The United States continues to be the main international tourist market for Costa Rica, representing more than 1.2 million visitors. They are followed by the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Spain, which completes the ‘top 5’.
“Costa Rica has closed the year 2022 with very positive figures, confirming the trend of previous months, generating a positive environment in the country’s tourism sector for this high season,” explained the ICT.
Of the total number of tourists who arrived in the countryy, 90.4% did so by air. This is a figure that has been increasing notably month by month, according to official statistics, and to which the country’s recovery and growing air connectivity have contributed, with agreements with major airlines.
One of Costa Rica’s successes, according to the country’s Minister of Tourism, William Rodríguez, is its “clear positioning” as a natural destination, encompassing 6.5% of the world’s biodiversity.
“These figures reinforce our innovative, sustainable and inclusive tourism model, in favor of local development that will continue in 2023,” said Rodríguez.
