(QCOSTARICA) Costa Rica would be one of the best destinations to visit post-covid-19, thanks to the successful management of the pandemic and a robust health system, according to experts in tourism and international media.
The applause has come in recent days from media such as El País from Spain, ABC and Condé Nast Traveler from the United States and BBC Mundo from the UK, among others.
And it is that unlike other countries with great tourist attraction and more developed, such as Spain, Italy and the United States, in Costa Rica only six deaths were registered to May 9, achieved with an only partial closure of commerce and no stay at home order.
And, Costa Rica has the lowest incidence rate of covid-19 deaths in Latin America, which are the nations with which Costa Rica will eventually have to compete to attract visitors.
In addition to the solid Health system, the country has another advantage, which is the possibility of offering semi-private, boutique tourism, which allows for some isolation, social distancing.
“The advantage is that Costa Rica does not have an image of mass tourism like Punta Cana, for example. The destinations that many tourists concentrate in a single area will be very affected by the problem of social distancing,” said Antoine Cros, regional representative for Air France-KLM.
Helping airlines will also be essential to take advantage of being perceived as a safe destination, said Mauricio Ventura, former Minister of Tourism.
Ventura said that one of those aids could come from Recope, reducing the local price of jet fuel, taking advantage of the dramatic drop in international oil prices.
Last year, one of the airlines’ complaints was the high price of filling up in Costa Rica, so they went to neighboring countries in search of more affordable fuel.
Tourists need to be motivated
Experts say tourists will not come “running”, so investing in advertising campaigns will be important too.
Less revenue and more expensive tickets for complying with the social distancing measures in the planes will slow the reactivation, Ventura added.
In this scenario, the country will have to lower costs also for foreign tourists, as the Costa Rican Tourism Institute has already announced that it will do so with national tourists.
This considering that post-Coronavirus tourism will be marked by younger travelers with a lower income capacity, since the retired or older population will be more cautious with their travel, being the most vulnerable to the virus.
The most encouraging picture of the arrival of tourists for the rest of 2020 is about 300,000 visitors, assuming that flights resume in August, estimated the Cámara Nacional de Turismo. (National Chamber of Tourism).
Tourists Miss Us
Between April and May, international travel magazines promoted Costa Rica as a post-coronavirus destination.
@Nigelmarven our family trip to Costa Rica got cancelled due to Coronavirus, so our budding naturalists got busy in the basement. Thought you’d appreciate this: pic.twitter.com/h3glNRIQqa
— Dan Ashton (@ashton_dan) April 12, 2020
For example:
- “Announcing the 2020 Hot List Winners”, Condé Nast Traveler, May 5
- “Listening to the sounds of the tropical forest ‘”, Canadian World Traveler, April 22
- “Family spends 2 weeks creating rain forest after Costa Rica trip canceled because of COVID”, Good Morning America, April 21
- “The Photo of the Day”, Lonely Planet, April 11 and 20
