The start of summer in the United States at the end of June also means the start of their vacation. Many take advantage of this period to travel with family or friends to other countries, including Costa Rica.
It is important to remember that national tourism is going through its low season, which runs from April to November. But in the middle there are these vacations in the United States, which usually improves the visit to here.
“The mid-year vacation period in the United States has always been very important for tourist visits to our country,” the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) said.Between April and November (the low season), June and July are the months that report the greatest arrival of Americans.
In 2023, June reported the entry of 145,920 tourists from the US, while July reported 140,440. They occupy third and fourth place, surpassed by months that are within the high season: December (158,146) and March (155,298).
Once July is over, the months with the least visits by Americans occur: August, September and October For example, in September of last year 61,023 Americans entered, a reduction of more than 50% when compared to December, which was the best month.
According to the ICT, during July 2024, visits from this destination could not only be better compared to other months of the year. It could also be higher than in the same month in previous years.
For example, in July of last year, 190,611 plane seats were registered from the United States to Costa Rica. This year 214,760 were scheduled. This means a difference of 24,149 seats. It represents a growth of 12.6%.
Canatur: “It is very favorable for the local economy”
The executive director of the National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur), Shirley Calvo, pointed out that this greater influx of American tourists to Costa Rica “is very favorable for the local economy.”He noted that the effect is reflected during June, July and, to a lesser extent, in August.
“The proximity, the good air connectivity and the strong positioning we have in this North American market make us a favorite destination for Americans to enjoy their vacations in our country,” she commented.
Continuous growth
Calvo pointed out that regardless of the high season, the entry of Americans to Costa Rica by air has grown by 20.5% when comparing 2024 with 2023.”We hope that this positive trend will continue during the coming months, so that it serves as a driver of tourist activity in different destinations,” she added.
For his part, the spokesperson for Tourism for Costa Rica, Bary Roberts, says that the beginning of vacations in the US seems to be “a good motivator for the acceleration of tourism to Costa Rica.”
On the other hand, he points out that historically during these mid-term vacations, Americans preferred to go to Europe, however, increasingly they are looking at destinations in Latin America.”It’s a positive balance. We have to see how much we can sustain it,” he added.
He also commented that according to the information he has, many of the visits that were made from the United States were repetitions, that is, people who had already come on the first occasion.
To expensive
For this reason, he considers that it could be dangerous that the country is becoming so expensive (due to the loss of value of the dollar), since this could cause people to decide to go somewhere else in the future and not to Costa Rica.”We hope that’s not something that will lower revenue later,” he said.
