Tourism Sector On The
Rise
Unquestionably, 2007 was
a year of growth for
Costa Rica’s national
tourism industry and the
beginning of 2008
confirms consistency.
January of 2008 marked a
good start in tourist
air arrivals according
to the preliminary data
gathered by the Costa
Rica Tourist Board - the
Instituto Costarricense
de Turismo (ICT).
Despite economic worries
in the main North
American markets, the
first month of 2008
shows optimism.
International tourism
arrivals registered at
the Juan Santamaría (San
José)
International Airport (SJO)
and Daniel Oduber Quirós
(LIR) in Liberia have
showed a steady growth.
According to the ICT,
127,647 international
visitors arrived by
plane in January of
2008, marking a 13.7
percent over the same
month of 2007.
For tourism Minister,
Carlos Ricardo
Benavides, these numbers
indicate a positive
trend for the current
high season already
taking place, and at the
same time committing the
government and sector to
improve efforts to
promote tourism
activities.
“These figures are
excellent news, a 13
percent increase is way
over the annual
estimates and we should
take advantage of this
to work even harder
throughout the year,
especially now
considering the economic
situation, particularly
in the United States. We
are pleased to announce
that we have started off
the year successfully,”
said Benavides.
In the case of the
national airport Juan
Santamaría, the numbers
indicate an estimated
increase of 15 percent,
representing
approximately 121,000
tourists. The Daniel
Oduber airport has an
expected increase of 7.3
percent, with 23,000
visitors.
Expansion began last
year with U.S. and
European airline
companies including
Spirit Airlines,
Frontier, Champion Air,
Sunwing Airlines, First
Choice, Air Caraibes,
and Air Comet flying
across Costa Rican
skies.
Costa Rica closed 2007
with a total of 1.9
million international
tourist arrivals, an
11.5 percent increase in
comparison to 2006.
Revenue generated by
international tourists
reached a historic high
of us$1.9 billion, up
us$300 million from last
year.
In terms of investment,
in 2007 Costa Rica
received an estimated
us$800 million in
tourism investment;
excluding investment in
real estate development.
Hilton, Marriott, Crown
and Express are among
some of the hotel chains
that decided to invest
in Costa Rica’s tourism
industry.
In 2008, Costa Rica will
be the host of the next
United Nations’
International Task Force
on Sustainable Tourism
Development. In that
sense, sustainable
tourism will continue
being a pivotal goal for
2008. Costa Rica has set
a goal to become a zero
carbon dioxide emissions
(CO2) tourist
destination by the year
2021.
Costa Rica, one of the
countries with the
greatest biodiversity in
the world, has been
since 1990, one of the
first eco tourism
destinations where the
national heritage and
resources have been used
in a sustainable and
responsible way. The
Certification for
Sustainable Tourism
(CST), created by the
ICT in 1999, is one of
the initiatives to
support sustainable
development within the
tourism industry.
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