Official Numbers Reveal
Tourism On the Increase
More than 1.2 million
tourists made their way
to Costa Rica in the
first nine months of
2007, a 11.3% increase
over the same period in
2006, according to
official figures
provided by the Cámara
Nacional de Turismo (CANATUR).
The numbers represent
the number of foreigners
coming to Costa Rica
during January and
September of this year.
CANATUR officials say
the numbers reflect an
important increase in
the number visits for
the tourism sector.
Tourism officials
explained that the
numbers are taken from
reported entries at the
Juan Santamaría (San
José) international and
the Daniel Oduber
(Liberia) international
airports. The report
shows that January,
March and July saw the
greatest number of
visitors.
CANATUR estimates that
the tourism industry
employs 110.000 people
directly and another
550.000 indirectly and
half of the jobs are
taken up by women.
In 2006, a total of 1.6
million visitors were
recorded that generating
some us$1.6 billion
dollars in revenue,
representing 8% of the
Gross National Product. |
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