QCOSTARICA – The number of people visiting Costa Rica from Europe, the United States and Canada have turned around the number of tourist visits and have even exceeded pre-pandemic levels, as confirmed by the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT) – Costa Rican Tourism Board.
From the United States, the main source of tourism to the country, the arrival by air registered between January and April 2023 was 536,056 tourists, exceeding by 5.4% the number that visited us in the first four months of 2019, when 508,454 tourists arrived.
In the case of Canada, 131,956 tourists arrived in Costa Rica during the first four months of the year, 6% more compared to 2019, when there were 124,437 tourist arrivals reported.
From Mexico, also one of the priority markets for Costa Rica, the reactivation process continues, reaching almost 77% of the figures for the first four months of 2019.
In the case of North America as a whole, there was a total of 691,272 tourists arrivals.
Tourists from Europe who arrived in the country between January and April totaled 185,733, which represents an increase of 5.5% in visitation compared to the first four months of 2019.
From Europe, France is in first place with the arrival of 34,911 tourists, followed by Germany with 32,766, the United Kingdom third with 31,390, Spain is fourth with 14,364 and the Netherlands is fifth with 11,849 tourists.
The recovery also saw an increase in arrivals, exceeding levels of the first four months of 2019, from other countries such as Austria, Switzerland, Peru, and Chile.
“The first four-month period has been excellent and the figures show it, we have carried out joint work with the private sector that is paying off. We are practically at the number of tourist visits by air compared to 2019 and we have already recovered the markets of the United States, Canada and Europe, which shows that we are on the right path,” said William Rodríguez, Minister of Tourism.
Of the total tourists by air in the first four months of the year, the Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) registered 652,371 international arrivals, representing 93% of the pre-pandemic numbers, while the Guanacaste Airport (LIR) reported a total of 315,086 arrivals between January and April 2023, 15.9% than in 2019.
Longer stays
According to Rubén Acón, president of the National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur), the recovery in arrivals by air translates into an increase in income for the sector, given that tourists are increasing their days of stay in the country.
According to his estimates, a tourist who enters by air are spending between US$1,500 and US$1,600 during their stay calculated between 13 and 14 days.
