Considering the beauty of its tropical environments Costa Rica tourism is growing leaps and bounds. According to statistics, a boost on Costa Rica tourism is growing significantly. It appears that most of the increase of tourists has occured in the past five years. The literal Spanish translation of Costa Rica is ‘rich coast’ and it adequately describes the beauty of this great tourist destination.
Costa Rica Tourism is considered a 1.9 billion USD a year industry. It stands out as the most visited nation in the Central American region and last time it was recorded, it receives an impressive 1.9 million visitors (2007). More than half of the tourists come from the United States and a fifth of the total number come from Europe.
Costa Rica now prides itself in having two major international airports (SJO and LIR) and several domestic airports. The first major airport is Juan Santamaría Airport (SJO) and it is accessible to major cities of the country which are Alajuela, Heredia and the capital city of San José. The second international airport is Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (LIR) and it is located in Liberia, near the Guacanaste province and closest to the Pacific Northwest coast.
Part of the continuing positive Costa Rica tourism is the exponential increase with regard to the incoming flights received by the Liberia airport. This is why an expansion of the facility is currently on the works to continually accommodate the surge of visitors. The construction development in the northern region of Costa Rica is one of the chief reasons for this. Nowadays, luxury hotels, enchanting villas and mesmerizing rentals are constantly on the rise in this part of the country.
Costa Rica is the pioneer in strategic ecotourism. Thus, there are many exciting destinations in the country where nature can best be appreciated. Tourists can visit any one of the country’s national parks: Chirripo National Park, Manuel Antonio National Park, Cahuita National Park, Corcovado National Park and Tapanti National Park. Other environmental tourist spots are the Monteverde and Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserves and the Pacuare River and Protected Zone.
Going on a holiday in Costa Rica is far from being boring. Due to the fact that prostitution is legal in the country, sex tourism has become one of the country’s popular tourist attractions. The industry is slowly gaining popularity, making it one of the national destinations of ‘sex tourists’ and the commerce already accounts for approximately 1/10 or 10% of the billion dollar Costa Rica tourism industry.
According to the first Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index published by the World Economic Forum, Costa Rica tourism astonishingly ranks 41st place, making themselves the first among other Latin American countries. It is definitely a feat, since if the forum only takes into consideration major factors such as human, cultural and natural resources, Costa Rica places 20th at a worldwide level.