Source: http://www.journalcr.com/
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com/
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
(Infocom) — The recently finished year was without a doubt a very good one for Costa Rica’s tourism industry, as almost 2 million visitors came here attracted by the natural wonders that have made this country an internationally recognized travel destination.
According to data unveiled by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) in its annual report, the number of tourists who arrived here via different routes in 2007 closed at a little over 1.9 million, which represents an 11 percent increase over 2006 — surpassing the number expected by the 2006-2010 National Development Plan.
The foreign-currency revenue generated by the tourism industry also grew by $292.3 million compared to 2006, reaching more than $1.9 billion. Also on the increase was the number of seats available in flights to the country — 675,000, or 22 percent more than in 2006.
Tourism Minister Carlos Ricardo Benavides said such positive performance was due to several factors, among them the addition of new airlines to the Costa Rican travel market and an increase in the frequency of flights by carriers already established here.
Benavides added that the results challenge the country to continue working hard in 2008 to keep the momentum going.
Other 2007 achievements include the inauguration of a Public Relations Office for the United States and Canada, as well as the effective use of 95 percent of the budget assigned to tourism marketing and promotion — which will increase from $8 million to $14 million in 2008.
In the area of citizen and tourist security, ICT and the Ministry of Public Security continued coordinating efforts, resulting in the deployment of 100 new Tourist Police officers. Crime against tourists decreased by 26 percent during 2007.
Besides providing its yearly report, ICT also updates the objectives of the National Tourism Development Plan for 2008, which include the implementation of policies to achieve tourism sustainability, attracting more investments, and venturing into new tourism markets — among them Asia.
As Minister Benavides pointed out, tourism officials will seek to strengthen ties with municipalities and communities throughout the country to continue working on issues such as planning and organization of tourism-related development.
Another goal is to consolidate the opening of regional tourism offices (one for each tourism planning region), for an investment of $1 million. The current plan calls for opening eight offices, located in Guanacaste, Puntarenas, Limon and the Northern Zone.
Sustainability: The next great challenge
With Costa Rica hosting the 2008 Sustainable Tourism World Summit, organized by the United Nations, the topic of sustainability is poised to become a key driving force for this industry as it attempts to meet the objectives of the 2002-2012 National Tourism Development Plan.
This plan establishes the tourism development model to be followed in the next few years, based on the basic premises of taking advantage of tourism in a sustainable way, managing natural and human resources, and seeking the equitable distribution of profits generated by this economic activity.
According to these premises, Costa Rica seeks to reach an annual target of 6.6 percent growth in the number of foreign visitors by 2012, as well as a 2.2 percent boost in internal tourism — thus strengthening its positioning as a “brand country” and achieving better human development rates.
Tourism officials have indicated there are still several gaps to fill to reach such goals, among them improving airport infrastructure, increasing hotel occupancy to 10,000 rooms, boosting the quality of services, and expanding the network of tourist destinations with the goal of providing more communities with the benefits of this surging industry.
Additionally, officials believe it is important to enhance the Tourism Sustainability Certificate (CST) program, which ICT currently runs in coordination with other public and private entities; strengthen the protection and promotion of national parks; support small and medium tourism businesses; and implement new and innovative marketing strategies that would help reinforce Costa Rica’s brand as an ecological destination.
To reach all of these growth objectives, the plan stipulates that the concept of resource sustainability must be applied to all industry development processes, which implies serious planning work between businesses, regional and national tourism chambers, government institutions, and municipalities that depend on the current tourism boom.
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com/
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
