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Friday, January 29th, 2016  |  USD: Buy 531.29 / Sell 543.92
20 years

First half of the year showed positive growth in tourist arrivals

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inside of Juan Santamaria airport

70% of arrivals were by air.(ICR Archive)

September 11th, 2014 (InsideCostaRica.com) Costa Rica recorded 1,391,617 tourist arrivals in the first six months of this year, an increase of 5.4% compared to the same period last year, according to data provided by the General Directorate of Immigration and analyzed by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT).

 

ICT said the statistics exclude Costa Ricans and those with temporary work permits.

 

The United States accounted for the largest number of international arrivals (568,250) followed by Central America (391,430) and Europe (179,743).

 

Almost 70% of arrivals were by air, an increase of 7.6% compared to the same period last year.  Arrivals to the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) saw a 6.4% increase in arrivals, while the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia (LIR) saw an increase of 12.7%.

 

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  • Michael Clarkson

    Here we go again the ICT with the marketing of lies again, sure the figures go up when you count all the Nicaraguans,Colombians and other countries workers to come here to work they get counted when they go out and when they come back in, gives us a real breakdown by nationality of who is coming and and let the public decide of course it would have to be an honest report and that is not going to happen in Costa Risa.

    • Ken Morris

      Note that there was a 7.6% increase in arrivals by air and that those with temporary work permits were excluded. Surely not a single Nica was counted. This is the most honest reporting of tourist arrivals I’ve ever seen and it looks like the numbers really are up.

      • http://insidecostarica.com/ Timothy Williams

        I agree with you, Ken. In fact, those exclusions were not made for the first 6 months of 2013 until after the fact (this year’s study) and the numbers are still up.

        Likewise, even if the numbers (surely) are skewed by “perpetual tourists” you can be assured that neighboring Panama and Nicaragua both count those border hoppers as part of their *own* tourist arrivals, so at least in the “tri-country area” the numbers, imperfect as they may be, are relevant.

        • SDPUS

          Except for July, the overall numbers are slightly up as far as vacation rentals go in Tamarindo. World Cup most likely impacted July #’s. Liberia Airport is mostly used by tourists. Amazingly, I think the data is accurate.

      • Michael Clarkson

        Good point Ken however the Colombians do come by air mostly unless they fly into Panama but for any real math to work the person who i doing the counting has to be competent and honest.

        • Larry Worsham

          They will certainly use their ‘other’ passports if they have children in Costa Rica and owe back money for child support. I personally know three who do this. They all had children when still in High School (Colegio) like idiots and because one of them was the child of an American has to pay a fortune monthly. I don’t necessarily agree with this as they got themselves in the mess, just making a note of it.

          • Michael Clarkson

            Good point Larry, not only Ticos enjoy dual citizenship but others from Central America and all over Latin America.

  • mhogan

    You wouldn’t know these statements to be fact by the scant people waiting in the “visitors” Immigration line at the airport. Years ago, it was LONG, but now, it’s in and out. I’ve come in and out as a resident on a monthly basis for the last year, at various days of the week and various times of day and the resident/nationals line was far longer. Now that I’m no longer a resident of CR, I’ll probably get through Immigration even faster. Then again, they’ll probably be confused by the passport stamps that stated I was a resident. I wouldn’t go back at all but still have to because of business and property closings. So I suppose my return visits as a non-resident will be counted as part of the “positive growth” in tourism.

    • Karen Mata

      Totally agree. Spent time in Coco when closing on my condo a while back, and it’s a ghost town. Check Palm Real Estate. Half the properties in that town are on the market.
      JS airport. Ditto.

  • El Torito

    For a piece about arrivals, why are you showing a picture of the departure terminal?

    • Karen Mata

      I liked the old airport better. A couple of runways with a glorified shack next to them.

      A robust tourist based economy is what they once had, and they want us to believe that they still do.
      The only problem is all other metrics indicate a cratering economy teetering on the edge of insolvency. Not exactly confirming their wonderful numbers.

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