Costa Rica Airports – New Liberia terminal should be finished by 2009 and cost US$15 million

With 18% more tourist arrivals in 2006 the Government plans to build a new passenger terminal at the Daniel Oduber Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste, which will cost more than $15 million.

Viviana Martin, vice minister of the Public Labours and Transportation Chamber, indicated that the bid will be posted by March.

The project should be awarded by the middle of the year to a private company that must build it up and operate the airport. Martin said the project could start on January 2008 and finished one year later.

The new terminal will be next to the three actual buildings, said the vice minister, and those will be used then only by the airlines that offer flights to the inside of the country.

Viviana Martin added that international airport consulter, Guillermo Alvarez, who is also a member of the Technical Council of Aviation (TCA), developed a study which determined the amount necessary for the project.

Also, another study to measure the number of hotels at the province and the number of visitors that come trough that airport, in order to determine the ideal dimensions of the future structure. That study will be elaborated by the Civil Aviation International Organization (CAIO), which signed a cooperation agreement with the TCA.

According to Martin, there are about 20 international companies interested in the construction of the airport and its administration.

Costa Rica Tourist Demographics:

The Costa Rican government is highly interested in building a modern terminal due to the increasing number of visitors that use that airport. 175,758 tourist arrived there during the 2006, 18% more than the 149,364 in 2005. The number of tourists has increased a 525% between years 2002 and 2005.

Last year’s increase occurred even when the overall number of tourist in the country decreased around 2 – 5% during the 2006, according to the National Tourism Institute (NTI):

The Tourism Chamber of Guanacaste (TCG) estimated that every visitor that arrives in Liberia spends around US$2,200 while the ones that do it at the Juan Santamaría Airport in Alajuela, around US$1,323

So, the visitors that arrived at the Daniel Oduber Airport spent $387 million in Guanacaste, which represents a 23% of the $1.633 billion generated by tourism in Costa Rica in the 2006.

Mauricio Cespedes, CEO of the TCG, estimated that the amount of visitors will increase by 10% this 2007. Cespedes remarked the importance of the Government’s interest in developing the project since they expect more and more visitors during the next years.

Guanacaste has a lot of strengths and potential, since you can find beaches, mountains and plenty of sun in the same place, pointed the CEO.

Who’s Coming?

According to a survey made by the TCG among Daniel Oduber airport users last august, 99% of the visitors said they would recommend visiting Guanacaste to a friend and 98% confirmed they expect to come back.

85% of the visitors are here for vacations and 10% for businesses. The average age of the visitors is 43 years old, 60% of which are male and 64% of the airport users have annual incomes over $100,000. Tourists that arrive at Liberia stay an average of 7 nights in the province and spend around $208 daily for their lodging.

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.