Tourist numbers tripled in less than two decades
With over 2.9 million tourists coming to Costa Rica the country reached an amazing record last year. The number of visitors represents an increase of around 10% (270,000 tourists more) compared to 2015.
Again, most visitors came from the US (1.2 million, an increase of 14.5%).
71.392 visitors, 50.3% more than in 2015, came from Great Britain, which for the first time sent the highest number of visitors from the old continent to Costa Rica.
Germany with 67.939, Spain with 67.453, France with 61.503 and Switzerland with 21.242 also increased their numbers.
For Maurica Ventura, Minister of Tourism in Costa Rica, growth rates are a result of more airlines flying directly to Costa Rica: Iberia (Madrid), British Airways (London), Air France (Paris) and Condor (Frankfurt and Munich).
The two international airports in Costa Rica provided service for an unprecedented number of visitors: Juan Santamaria in San Jose handled 1.5 million, Daniel Oduber in Liberia 570,000 tourists.
70% of travelers came by air, 13.8 percent more than in 2015.
This year, Costa Rica could well receive more than 3 million tourists for the first time.
One new airline is already ‘on the air’: starting May 9, 2017, Swiss airline Edelweiss will fly Tuesdays (6.35 pm) and Fridays (1.35 pm) non-stop from Zürich to San José.