Costa Rica announced this past week a prioritization of the Tourism sector with the designation of Gustavo Segura as the new Minister of Tourism after María Amalia Reveló suffered health problems and resigned from office.
The Costa Rican President, Carlos Alvarado, indicated in a press conference that Segura will focus on three priorities to face the crisis that the sector is going through in the framework of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The immediate actions that the new minister will deploy are the opening of international flights gradually and safely; the implementation of tools to alleviate the financial problems of companies in the sector, and economic reactivation actions, always with a high standard of health security in constant dialogue with the health authorities.
“I have humbly and very honorably accepted to serve the country, in extremely complex circumstances for Costa Rica, and in particular for the tourism industry. There is a human team at the Costa Rican Tourism Institute trained and committed to these ends,” said Segura.
The new minister stated that he will make himself “available to the chambers and organizations in the sector, for generating the appropriate formal communication channels and urgent spaces to be able to converse and work in an orderly manner.”
The Costa Rican authorities also highlighted the relevance that the nation must remain as a leading player at the international level in the field of tourism. Tourism is one of the main engines of the economy of our Central American country, which receives nearly 3 million tourists every year.
Due to the Pandemic, this sector has been one of the most affected during the health crisis, since Costa Rica has kept its borders closed to foreigners since mid-March. Costa Rica announced that it will open its international airports on August 1st for travelers whose countries have Virus transmission under control and in compliance with sanitary protocols at air terminals and for tourist service operators.
However, the Ministry of Health has warned that this date may be changed depending on the behavior of the Virus in Costa Rica, that is undergoing the second Pandemic wave with a sustained increase of cases in recent weeks.
Since last May, hotels with sanitary protocols and reduced capacity (to minimize the risk of infection) have been allowed to operate, which has been taken advantage of by hotels with offers seeking to attract national tourism.
