Don't Fear Costa Rica
By Gene Sloan, USA TODAY

Yes, tourists were attacked last week in Costa Rica — and brazenly. But, no, it isn't a sign of a worsening safety situation in the popular eco-destination.

So say travel experts such as Tim Jarrell, publisher of Fodor's Travel Publications, who shrugs off the armed holdup of a group of cruise passengers in the Caribbean coastal city of Limon.

"Any travel has a certain amount of risk to it," says Jarrell. "But I would no more discourage people from going to Costa Rica than I would discourage them from visiting New York or Chicago."

Costa Rican authorities moved quickly this week to reassure cruisers and other tourists visiting the country that it remains safe, announcing a doubling of police patrols in Limon during cruise ship visits and the installation of video surveillance cameras.

The U.S. State Department, meanwhile, in its Consular Information Sheet for Costa Rica, warns that "theft is common" in the country. "Local law enforcement agencies have limited capabilities and do not act according to U.S. standards," it says.

But Jarrell says Fodor's editors aren't seeing an uptick in serious violence against tourists in the country, which he says remains a relatively safe place to go.

Theft of tourist possessions is a problem in San Jose, the capital, he adds, but "in our view, violent crime is generally not a problem."

Last week's incident, in which three armed attackers took on a group of tourists who had arrived for the day on the Carnival Legend, was widely covered by media worldwide, mostly because of the way it ended. In a table-turning twist, the tourists fought back, killing one of the attackers and sending the other two fleeing.

Jarrell says it's alarming that the size of the tour group — around a dozen people — didn't deter the attackers. And "the travelers weren't in offbeat circumstances by any stretch of the imagination," adds Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor of cruisecritic.com. "They were just touring the area with a guide."

Still, "this is an isolated incident," says Tim Leffel, author of The World's Cheapest Destinations. The bigger issue for vacationers in Costa Rica, he says, isn't rising crime but rising costs.

"It's not a deal anymore," he says. "It got too popular."

Tourism has become ever more crucial to Costa Rica's economy over the past decade. The number of visitors has more than doubled to 1.68 million per year since 1996, resulting in soaring tourism revenues even as the dollar value of traditional exports such as bananas and coffee declines.

Cruise lines are known for pulling out of ports where crime against tourists makes it into the headlines (the abandonment of stops in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands being the latest example).

But for now, at least, Carnival is sticking with Limon and planning to return next week as scheduled.