If gas prices continue rising as they have been, tourism will be affected, but so far things are growing, said the executive director of the chamber of tourism in Guanacaste.
Despite worries from locals, the Cámara de Turismo Guanacasteca expects numbers to rise in the coming years, said the executive director, Mauricio Céspedes Mirabelli.
Everything depends on if these great price raises continue to increase. If the prices stay they same, we don't believe there will be problems, but if the rise continues at the rate we've seen, we believe it will affect the quantity of tourists that travel, said Céspedes.
So far, however no flights have been cut from the Aeropuerto Internacional Daniel Oduber Quiros in Liberia, said Céspedes, and tourists continue to arrive.
The number of passengers arriving to the Liberia airport have grown every year since 2002, according to the chambers numbers. From 2007 to 2008, passengers increased by 11 percent and the chamber expects a 10 percent increase this year and next year, said Céspedes.
As to whether numbers of tourists from specific countries was changing, Céspedes said the numbers in Guanacaste remained the same. Some 70 percent of tourists arriving at the Liberia airport are from the United States and 25 percent are from Canada, he added.
