By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

From January to March, Costa Rica had 631,609 tourists in the country, according to the Tourism Institute statistics.

 

This figure is equivalent to 63% of the number of tourists who entered by air before the pandemic in 2019.

 

Most of the tourists, 579,354, arrived by air, which is equivalent to 91% of the total number of tourists who arrived in the country in that period. 

 

The Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) in Alajuela Province recorded 389,231 tourists entering the country by air. While at the Daniel Oduber International Airport (LIR) in Guanacaste Province, authorities documented the updated data on the arrivals of 190,113 tourists.

In the case of LIR airport, VINCI Airports, the company in charge of managing the airport, reported this week over 164,000 passenger arrivals in March.

 

Tourists from the United States continue to be the leading nationality visiting Costa Rica. Authorities documented 335,970 tourists from the U.S., which is equivalent to 53% of the total number of visitors.

There are 71,261 tourists from Canada and Mexico recorded during the same period, the institute said in its statement.

European tourists make up 121,597 tourists or 19% of total visitors. Of these, the majority are from France with 24,492 travelers, the UK with 20,015 tourists and Germany with 19,697 visitors.

The increase in the recovery of travelers from the United States, Canada and Europe, the number of available seats offered by airlines in the coming months, the promotion of our country as a non-massive destination and the next the summer vacations in North America and Europe are anticipating an encouraging perspective for the country's tourism, " Gustavo Alvarado, Minister of Tourism said.

 

All airlines have restarted their flights to Costa Rica, the institute said.

 

As of April 1, the covid pass requirement for fully-vaccinated people was eliminated, as well as the policy insurance requirement for unvaccinated people.

 

Since then, the government stopped requiring tourists to follow any of the regulations established during the pandemic, such as presenting a negative covid-19 test, quarantine upon arrival, being fully vaccinated against covid-19 or travel policy insurance.

The online Health Pass was also disabled.

As part of the country's strategy to boost tourism, recently six Costa Rican tourism companies, with the support of the Institute of Tourism, participated in the World Travel Market Latin America Fair that took place at the Expo Center Norte in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

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What should authorities do to boost tourism?  We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com