Costa Rica was awarded as the third most desired country by international travelers in the Wanderlust Travel Awards. The country took bronze in the Most Desirable Country (Long Haul) 2021 category.
Our country received bronze thanks to the excellent rating given by a panel of expert judges, travelers and readers of Wanderlust. It is a well-known magazine specialized in tourism and travel. The event took place at Kensington Palace in the UK.
Reactions
“Without a doubt, the readers, travel experts and judges of Wanderlust, saw in Costa Rica the actions that as a country we have carried out to attract tourists during this pandemic.
“Among them the application of protocols, sustainable services in all regions of the country, the biodiversity that characterizes us and wellness tourism. And also the return of the airlines,” said Ireth Rodríguez, head of Promotion of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT).
Adam Lloyds, director of partnerships at Wanderlust, confessed that this “has been a difficult year, but the industry continues to innovate and seek positive solutions.” Gold and Silver Awards in the Most Desired Destinations category were awarded to Australia and Japan, respectively.Other destinations that made the top 10 are: Canada, the United States, South Korea, Peru, Sri Lanka, South Africa and New Zealand.
Tense moment
This announcement comes at a time when the tourism sector projects in $ 400 million the losses it would have in the high season -which begins in December- due to the mandatory nature of the scheme of complete vaccination for those who wish to enter businesses, whether they are Costa Ricans or foreign tourists.
The alarm was launched by the National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur) and the Costa Rican Chamber of Hotels (CCH). Rubén Acon, president of Canatur, assured that a survey conducted with hotel businesses established that there are 15% cancellations in reservations for the next few weeks.
“The obligation to have the scheme and have a QR code is a measure that goes in the opposite direction of the recovery of tourism,” he said. For his part, Javier Pacheco, president of CCH, went further in predicting that if the measure is maintained, the losses in four months would be $ 400 million. “It is a snowball that will not stop and it is not only the cancellations, it is what we also stopped selling,” said Pacheco.
In view of the above, 5 of their representatives resorted to the judicial system this Tuesday. These are companies that only among themselves lost $ 5 million due to canceled reservations. Specifically, they filed a very provisional precautionary measure where they ask that the demands be passed, at least for Easter.
