QCOSTARICA – Alberto Lopez, head of the Tourism Board (ICT), admitted Thursday afternoon before the Legislative Commission on Tourism, that the number of visitors entering the country are inflated.
The ICT chief said the numbers only exclude Nicaraguans entering Costa Rica on work permits.
This implies that to know the real number of “tourist” arrivals we should disaggregate all Nicaraguan visitors who come to the country to work illegally.
Partdio Liberacion Nacional (PLN) legislator, Karla Prendas, called the figure of 2.6 million visitors last year (2015) as “false“.
“We know that not all foreigners who enter Costa Rica in search for work have permission, the government including them in the total number of tourist arrivals, when in fact they are not (tourits),” said Prendas.
The legislator, in her criticism of the PAC government, continued in saying that the increase in tourist arrivals is mainly due to the policies of the previous liberationist (PLN) governments in attracting new airlines.
Prendas also criticized the government of Luis Guillermo Soli action resulting ina 5.3% growth in tourism, while the rest of Central America reported a 7% increase.
Source: La Republica,
