Largest Tourism Growth
Costa Rica was the Central American nation most visited by tourists last year, at 1.5 million, 19.2% more than in 2004. That figure is almost one fourth of the overall number of visitors to the region.

According to the data from the World Tourism Organization, with headquarters in Madrid, Spain, the number of tourists visiting the Americas went up 14.4% and Costa Rica was the nation that registered the largest increase, followed by El Salvador at 18.6 %.

The Organization said that global tourism increased by 5.5%, meaning 808 visitors throughout the world. It added that the recovery of tourism that was recorded in 2004 continued last year, in spite of the consequences of the tsunami in the Indian Ocean and the longer-than-usual hurricane season in the Caribbean.