Costa Rica will open air borders to all countries in the world as of November 1st, four months after it began allowing the arrival of flights from certain countries during the pandemic.
This was reported on October 16th at a press conference by the Minister of Tourism, Gustavo Segura, who indicated that the measure would seek to reactivate the tourism sector during the end of the year.
“In order to consolidate the economic reactivation, a dynamic and vigorous return of international tourism is necessary, which is complemented by national tourism, for the recovery of employment with a view to the high season,” Segura said.
So far, the country allowed the entry of tourists from 54 countries around the world. Now, tourists residing in any country in the world will be able to visit Costa Rica meeting the entry requirements.
Expanding list
The list of countries has been expanding in the last month. On October 8th, the government announced the entry of tourists from all Central America. This would be the main market for business tourism, Segura said.
Before that, on October 2nd, the government announced that it would allow entry from every state in the United States. Costa Rica opened the borders with that country since September, when 12 states were allowed to enter.”We have gone through a gradual process that leads us today to make a decision with a view of economic reactivation and to reactivate employment,” said Segura.
International tourism has not become a major source of COVID-19 infections. Costa Rica closed its borders —both land and air— from March 16th and began a process of opening to international flights from August 1st.
As part of the requirements to enter the country, Costa Rica asks tourists for medical insurance that covers an eventual extended stay by COVID-19 and medical expenses. Also required is a negative PCR test 72 hours before the flight and an epidemiological form.
In addition to the opening of borders, Segura announced that, as of October 16th, Costa Rican travelers who have undergone a negative PCR test 72 hours before returning to the country will not receive a sanitary confinement order.
Volaris resumes operations
The Tourism Minister also announced that the national flag carrier, Volaris, will resume operations on November 23rd, also ahead of the high season for tourism.The airline will reactivate connections to Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Los Angeles, Washington, New York, Mexico City and Cancun, according to the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT).
Segura indicated that it will also launch an “aggressive discount campaign”, which includes, for example, a 70% discount for all its rates to travel from Central America until October 24th, 2021.”This joins other recent announcements made by airlines such as American Airlines, JetBlue, Alaska, Delta, etc,” said the Minister of Tourism.
