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I am amazed that tourism is up in Costa Rica considering the economic down turn that is underway in the States as well as the rest of the world. Does anyone have an explanation?
Sometimes I think a huge portion of those tourists are actually Americans on the verge of retiring fleeing the consequences of a sinking economy and studying Costa Rica a possible refuge. Of course, that is just personal bias on my part but there has to be an explanation for the increase.I’m sure that’s part of it… then there’s also all of us with vacation homes that travel to CR 4-5 times per year. Add all the folks doing the 90day in… 3 days out thing because they can’t stay legally. All of which are counted as “tourist”… no doubt the economic problems in the States and elsewhere is having an effect on the “true” numbers.
The US baby boomer bail out is definitely part of the rise in tourism. Many people go home and rave about how beuatiful the place and people are, where some of us keep the secret to ourselves. Costa Rica is/has become much more global. The high cost of living and higher unemployment than US in the EU, in addition with the decline in the quality of life for the middle, upper middle and wealthy from the more developed South American countries such as Venzuela (the weaalthy are gone), Argentina and recently Chile, has also added tourism and residents. Next will be the asian invasion.
Maybe the increase in tourism numbers is due to the many Nicas legally crossing the northern border in search of a better life in Costa Rica.
Edited on Jul 14, 2008 17:00
I recently visited CR for the first time. Since I was traveling alone and had never been to the country before, I didn’t try to go “cheap”. I was able to stay at the lovely Hotel Bougainvillea and take a couple of tours (Arenal and the Arial Tram). The airfare was about the same as any domestic flight in the U.S. The price I would have paid for a U.S. trip (even if I camped in my tent) would have been the same or higher by the time I rented a car. So for many, the cost of a vacation to CR is much more exotic and reasonably priced than in the U.S. and certainly less expensive than Europe.
And, yes, I fell in love with CR and the Ticos! I’m returning in November to take an immersion Spanish class.
denise
We always come to that same conclusion as well about a holiday here in the US. We live in NYC and even to go to Long Island we would pay about $2000 per week just for a house rental and that would not put us on the beach. We can fly to Costa Rica for approx. $800 dollars round trip(2) and stay on the beach in an efficiency apartment for about $50 dollars per night in Play Hermosa/Jaco.
My guess is that it is relatively cheap to vacation in Costa Rica, so it can still be done even if the economy is bad. I mean, how exciting is it to go to Vegas for the 50th time…? And Hawaii is relatively expensive.
Also, every time I mention that I’m moving to Costa Rica, every single person has heard of it and knows how beautiful it is and knows at least one person who has recently been there. And about every 3rd person I talk to mention the International Home buying show on HGTV as the place where they found out about Costa Rica. I guess it has hit critical mass in people’s consciousness.
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