Tourism industry insiders Tuesday applauded an 11.3% increase in the number of visitors to Costa Rica so far this year compared to the same period last year.
From January through September, 1,216,345 international tourists arrived to Costa Rica by air alone, 11.3% more than during the same period last year, according to a statement from the National Tourism Chamber (CANATUR).
The chamber obtained this number by counting tourists who entered Costa Rica through the country’s two international airports – Juan Santamaría, just outside San José, and Daniel Oduber, in the northwestern Guanacaste capital of Liberia.
This represents a 16.3% growth in the number of visitors to Daniel Oduber and 9.6% more tourists to Juan Santamaría than last year.
Although these figures are “not official,” they “reflect the behavior of the sector and the growing tendency in the number of visitors,” since 78% of tourists to Costa Rica arrive by plane, the statement said.
These statistics show March, January and July as the months when the most tourists came here. In March, 163,433 tourists arrived, while 149,878 came in January and July saw 145,455 foreign tourists enter the country.
