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    - Photo via Juan Santamaría International Airport - |
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Published on Thursday, July 14, 2022
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
So far this year, from January to June, there have been over 1,223,700 tourists in Costa Rica, according to statistics from the Tourism Institute.
This figure is equivalent to 70% of tourists who arrived in the country in the same period in 2019, before the pandemic.
Over 1,120,500 tourists arrived by air, which is equivalent to 91% of the total number of tourists.
The Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) in Alajuela Province recorded more than 756,000 tourists entering the country. While at the Daniel Oduber International Airport (LIR), known as Guanacaste Airport, authorities documented more than 363,900 tourists.
Tourists from the United States continue to be the leading tourist in Costa Rica. As of June, there were more than 690,200 tourists from the U.S.
During the same period, authorities reported over 206,300 European tourists. Of these, the majority are from the UK with more than 36,200 visitors, France with over 35,300 travelers and Germany with more than 32,800 visitors.
"According to the scenarios analyzed to date, this year the arrival of between 2.4 and 2.5 million tourists is estimated," William Rodríguez, Minister of Tourism, said.
Last year, over 1.3 million tourists arrived in Costa Rica.
In 2019, before the pandemic, Costa Rica had received more than 3.1 million tourists.
In the case of U.S. tourists, in April, the U.S. Department of State upgraded the recommendation level for traveling to Costa Rica from 4 to 2. Category 2 recommendation is the same as it had in 2019, before the pandemic.
To increase tourism, Costa Rica eliminated the covid pass requirement for fully-vaccinated people and the policy insurance requirement for unvaccinated people.
The government has eased the pandemic health guidelines. The country will no longer need tourists to present a negative covid-19 test, quarantine upon arrival, be fully vaccinated against covid-19, nor purchase travel policy insurance. The online Health Pass was also disabled.
All airlines have renewed flying to Costa Rica, the institute said.
Authorities expect a significant increase in tourists after a new Visa for International Digital Nomads was recently made available in the country.
In June, many Costa Rican companies participated in FIEXPO Latin America, which took place in Panamá.
------------ What else should Costa Rican authorities do to boost tourism? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com
   
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