QCOSTARICA – The 2022-2023 cruise season in Costa Rica lived a very special day on Friday, when nine cruise ships, with more than 6,500 passengers, anchored simultaneously on the docks of Puntarenas (two), Limon (three), an expedition cruise ship in Playas del Coco, a luxury ship in the Gulf of Nicoya and two luxury ships in Quepos.
According to the itineraries of each ship, some of its passengers will be in the country for between eight and twelve hours getting to know the nearby communities, while the passengers of luxury and expedition cruises will stay between 3 and 5 days, stopping at different ports to discover the Costa Rican attractions.
The arrival of the cruise ship is a boost to the economy, whose passengers seek out tourist services, such as tours, transport, and tour guides, and provide income to the national parks, vendors of handicrafts and gastronomic products, among other activities.
The ships are Seabourn Sojourn, Silver Moon, Wind Star, World Voyager, National Geographic Quest, Amadea, Caribbean Princess, Zaandam, and MS Panorama.
For the 2022-2023 cruise ship season (between September 2022 and July 2023), more than 300 ships are expected to anchor in the six authorized ports in the country.: Puntarenas, Caldera, Quepos, Golfito, Playas del Coco, and Limón. This figure represents a growth of 20% in relation to the 250 cruise ships that arrived in the country in 2019.
Of these, 40% will be expedition and luxury cruises, characterized by a higher average cost per cruise passenger.
While it is true that luxury and expedition ships are smaller and the number of passengers is lower, visitors stay longer in the country, are usually specialists in professions linked to research, are people with high purchasing power, between 50 and 70 years old, very active and knowledgeable about the destinations they choose, being mainly American, German, British, Canadian and French nationals, with an average spending per passenger of approximately US$3,000.
“After two very difficult years for the cruise industry due to the pandemic, it is satisfying to serve nine cruise ships simultaneously with the consequent benefit that the visitation of cruise passengers brings to port communities, a situation that validates an improved 2022 season – 2023,” said Gustavo Alvarado, ICT director of Tourism Management and Consulting.
