Costa Rica consolidated its success as a tourist destination during 2023. According to data from the General Directorate of Migration and Immigration, the country experienced historic growth in the number of tourists who visited our country in 2023, via air.
The accumulated number of tourist arrivals by air in the period from January to December 2023 reached the impressive figure of 2,471,150, which represents a growth of 16.7% compared to the same period in 2022 and 2.2 % compared to 2019 .
“These positive and historical data exceed the tourism indicators that the country had before the pandemic, prior to the global recovery. In 2019, 2,418,300 visited us by air, we closed 2023 with almost 53 thousand more tourists, a result of the correct and timely promotion of the destination in our main tourist issuing markets, of the permanent efforts to recover the air connectivity of the country with these markets and the notable joint effort between the public and private sectors to offer unique experiences and exceptional hospitality,” commented William Rodríguez, Minister of Tourism.
Furthermore, according to data processed by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute, in December 2023, the air route experienced the arrival of 281,095 tourists, marking a significant increase of 18% compared to the same month of 2022.
The Juan Santamaría and Daniel Oduber international airports were especially notable, with 181,002 and 100,051 tourists entering respectively, representing increases of 18% and 28.5% compared to December 2022 and 10% compared to December 2019.
North America leads the tourism drive. North America stood out as a key source of tourists, recording 1,756,578 arrivals by air throughout 2023, a notable increase of 18.6% compared to the previous year. The United States led with 1,431,644 tourists, followed by Canada with 242,970 tourists and Mexico with 81,964 people.
Europe contributes to continued success. Europe also played a significant role in the tourism growth of the year just concluded, adding 431,980 tourist arrivals during the period from January to December, representing an increase of 5.1% compared to the previous year. The main European markets showed a varied performance, with notable increases in France (13.4%), Germany (13.1%) and the Netherlands (9.8%).