Tourism Industry Feeling
Pinch of US Recession
The tourism industry in
Costa Rica is beginning
to fill the pinch of the
world economic crisis
and 2009 is expected to
be a "difficult" year
for the industry.
The news comes from the
latest results of a poll
by the Cámara Nacional
de Turismo de Costa Rica
(Canatur) - national
tourist board - that
shows that the industry
is feeling the effects
of the recession in the
United States, the
country where most of
Costa Rica's tourists
come from.
The poll took in the
answers of 86 tourism
businesses between
December 2 and 9, who
said that hotel
occupancy during
September, October and
November was down for
more than 60% of those
interviewed, while 19%
said it was the same or
equal to the same period
in 2007 and only 20%
reporting an increase.
Notwithstanding the
drop, 74% of the
operators say they have
not cut back staff.
Reservations for
December are down as
well, with only 54%
saying that their
reservations levels are
the down from last year,
34% saying it is the
same or equal to last
year and only 12%
reporting an increase.
For the coming year
(2009), 57% of the
operators say that the
reservations levels are
down compared to the
first quarter of 2008.
The tourism industry in
Costa Rica has been a
positive in maintaining
that the growth in 2998
will be between 7% and
7.5%, however, lower in
2009.
A recent report on
global tourism put the
growth figure at between
2% and 3%, while Costa
Rican authorities
believe that tourism in
the country will be
about 6%, lower than the
figure of the last
several years, but
higher that the world
figure. |
