Tourism Minister William Rodríguez does not expect any changes in the dollar’s value in Costa Rica in the coming months. However, he acknowledges that the exchange rate’s behavior is affecting the financial performance of tourism companies.
“At least from now until May of next year, I don’t see any changes in the exchange rate. I don’t foresee it, and what business owners have to do is adjust their business strategy,” the official stated during an interview.
The dollar’s very low value has been a “thorn in the side” for Costa Rican businesses during the current administration of President Rodrigo Chaves Robles. Business owners believe that having a dollar value equivalent to that of two decades ago is inconsistent with expenses, which have grown and continue to grow constantly.
Most tourism companies receive payments in dollars. These dollars must be converted into colones to cover operational payments such as salaries, social security contributions, supplier payments, and services, among others.
This means that the dollar payments received by the Costa Rican business sector for offering their services are increasingly worthless in the domestic market when converted to colones. Therefore, with the same or even greater income, they can cover increasingly fewer expenses. “I don’t think they will disappear”, says Costa Rica Tourism minister.
Rodríguez acknowledged the impact the exchange rate is having on national companies. However, he ruled out the possibility that some of them are disappearing due to this situation. “It would be illogical to say that there is no impact on the companies’ economies; there is,” he commented.
“I don’t think they’ll disappear; they’ll have to find their niche, a place to operate,” he added when asked about the impact the dollar has on the country’s smallest businesses.
Until early March 2025, the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) had identified that the appreciation of the colón had continued. That is, the phenomenon that affected tourism in 2022, 2023, and 2024 will continue into 2025.
Businesses: Exchange Rate Also Drives Away Tourists
In addition to affecting companies’ financial results, the dollar exchange rate could be influencing tourists’ decisions about whether or not to choose Costa Rica as their vacation destination. This is the hypothesis of the business sector. Their logic is that as dollars become worth less and less in Costa Rica, the country becomes more expensive for tourists, and this could be affecting their choices.
The business sector has raised this issue primarily because tourist arrivals to Costa Rica have been declining for seven months (from September 2024 to March 2025).
However, the government has remained steadfast in stating that there is no evidence that this is happening. In fact, this Tuesday during a press conference, the Minister of Tourism sought to completely distance himself from the issue, stating that the value of the dollar is not something under the control of the Executive Branch.
Tourists with high purchasing power
Authorities from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) continue to maintain that Costa Rica is a country that attracts tourists with high purchasing power, for whom these changes in the value of the dollar have no effect.
However, the business sector believes that the dollar’s performance has a direct impact on visitation to the country. The National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur), the organization Turismo por Costa Rica, and the Proimagen association agree on this point.
Rodríguez insisted that other reasons have led to a decline in tourist arrivals in recent months. Among them are the emergence of new competitors, which are taking market share away from Costa Rica. Also mentioned is the uncertainty generated by tariff changes in the United States, as well as difficulties in Europe in increasing frequencies and routes to the country.
