Costa Rica was among 2019’s most-searched travel destinations in the United States

In December, Google released its Year in Search 2019, where it unveiled the most popular searches made on the internet giant.

We already covered Costa Rica’s Year in Search, but the Central American country also made an appearance in the United States’s summary. According to Google, Costa Rica in 2019 was the 10th most-searched travel destination for U.S. users.

Costa Rica finished behind island destinations like the Maldives and Bora Bora, U.S. cities including Las Vegas and New Orleans, and another Latin American country in Mexico.

Still, 10th place isn’t too shabby for a country of just over 5 million people. And the online interest has had real-world ramifications: During the first half of 2019, 65% of all tourists arriving via air travel came from the United States and Canada, according to the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT). 

María Amalia Revelo, the Tourism Minister, projects a 5% total increase in visitors to Costa Rica in 2019 compared to 2018.

Here is the full list of top travel destinations searched by Google users in the United States: