Courtesy of InsideCostaRica.com
The Cámara Nacional de Turismo de Costa Rica (Canatur) - Costa Rican national chamber of tourism - expects a 14% growth in tourism this year over the same period last year. The prediction comes from a sustained growth of the number of visitors to Costa Rica during the first five months of the year.
In real numbers, Canatur is predicting a record total of 2.1 million tourists, 200.000 more than in 2007.
Gonzalo Vargas, president of Canatur, considers the country to offer foreign visitors a variety of tourist attractions, a lot of fun, natural wonders, a diversity in types of hotel accommodations, all reinforcing the country's image to travellers worldwide.
Vargas said that the majority of the visitors are loosing for sun and beaches, followed by nature, adventure and ecotourism.
The Canatur head did not discard that there has also been a growth in medical tourism, a niche market that Costa Rica is carving out, as foreigners see Costa Rica's medical system inexpensive compared to home, while offering quality care.
"Those who come for surgery in the country, more than likely will spend a few extra days to tour the country", said Vargas.
Since 1995 the Organización Mundial del Comercio (OMC) - World Trade Organization - includes Costa Rica it the top 20 countries with better health systems and third in life expectancy.
Canatur figures show that 95% of the medical tourism comes from the United States, saving between 50% and 70% of the cost of treatment at home.
Vargas added that oral treatments and orthodontics are the leader in medical tourism, followed by surgery and aesthetic services.
According tot he Ministro de Turismo (Tourism Minister), Carlos Ricardo Benavides, the numbers offered by Canatur are reasonable, adding that during the first five months of the year the country say an increase of 133.332 more tourists over the same period last year.
The increase is 15.6% according to the Costa Rican Tourism minister, slightly higher than the Canatur figure. The Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT) - national tourism board - predicts a 5% overall growth of tourism for the year.
Benavides added that the 15.6% growth is unusual and the overall growth higher than the 3% estimated by the World Tourism Organization (WTO).
The Tourism minister says that the number of flights to Costa Rica in 2008 over 2007 is one of the reasons for the growth, as well as the type of visitor, who for the most part are from the United States and are in a class not affected by the economic crisis in that country.
Mario Zamora, director of "Migración y Extranjería", added that Costa Rican has a good environmental reputation that attracts tourists.
The immigration director said that following visitors from the United States are visitors from Europe, mainly from Holland, Germany and Spain.
