Tourism Goes Up Compared to January 2006

The National Tourism Chamber (CANATUR) has reported an increase in tourism for the month of January. The first month of 2007 saw a 5.53% increase in the number of tourists entering Costa Rica, compared to the same month in 2006.

Last month, JuanSantamaríaInternationalAirport, located just northwest of San José in Alajuela, welcomed 105,416 tourists, while DanielOduberInternationalAirport in Liberia, capital of the booming northwestern province of Guanacaste, received 44,462 tourists, for a total of 149,878 visitors.

The Liberia airport saw an increase of 8,708 tourists above the 35,754 seen in January 2006, while the numbers dipped slightly this year at Juan Santamaría, which saw 848 more in January of last year.

The overall growth comes on the heels of recent reports of stagnating tourism numbers. CANATUR vice-president William Rodríguez told The Tico Times earlier this year that tourism saw virtually no growth in 2006, compared to 15.6% tourism growth rate in 2005 and a 17.3% growth rate in 2004 (TT, Jan. 12).