Almost a month after Costa Rica opened its borders to air travel from more than 40 origin markets, the response to a visitation from tourists has been low. This was explained by the Minister of Tourism, Gustavo Segura, who pointed out that the commercial flights that have entered Costa Rica come with occupancy of between 40% and 50%.
“The level of reservations after the first month of openings has been quite low (…), undoubtedly this is because we still have an international market of travelers learning to live in times of Pandemic,” Segura said.
Although he pointed out that it is “very risky” to give projections, with numbers “that are very preliminary”, but in the six months after the opening of air borders it could reach 25% of visitation of the volume that was maintained before the Pandemic; This is if the markets of origin follow a COVID-19 control behavior.
“Even giving that figure is super risky, that can change very quickly depending on how the Pandemic begins to evolve in the markets of origin and our own country,” Segura added. “It is extremely difficult to reach projections at this time, international demand is fluctuating a lot is depending on how the Pandemic is evolving in the different places of origin of the tourists,” he said.
More authorizations
Starting in September, Costa Rica will open its air borders to a total of 9 US states. Today the list was expanded: As of September 1, residents of Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and Maine will be able to come. Likewise, after September 15, citizens residing in Colorado, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania will also be able to travel to the country.
