Hotel occupancy rates at the end of 2012 were lower than those reported in the same period of 2011, and although industry expectations were for 70 percent room occupancy, businesses fell short, with 65.5 percent occupancy nationwide.
These figures come from a survey by the Costa Rican Chamber of Hotels (CCH) of its members, who also reported lower tourism activities in the same period.
Like in previous years, most tourists preferred beach hotels, which showed the highest occupancy rates at 84 percent. But in comparison with 2011, this represents a decrease of 13 percentage points (97 percent in 2011).
Some 26 percent of the hotels participating in the survey said their tourism activity was lower than last year, and 30.4 percent said they maintained similar numbers, which means that only 39.1 percent of the hotels had better occupancy rates.
