Source: http://www.journalcr.com
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
(Infocom) — The National Chamber of Tourism (CANATUR) said it is expecting a significant increase in the number of national tourists visiting various destinations throughout the country, with at least 150,000 Costa Ricans traveling now that the mid-year school vacation has arrived.
According to CANATUR, it is expected that beach and mountain hotels will see their occupancy levels increase this vacation season. Studies conducted by this chamber indicate that the most popular destinations during this time of year are Jaco (Central Pacific), northern Guanacaste, Puntarenas, La Fortuna and Monteverde (Northern Zone).
Guanacaste has been preparing to receive this wave of July visitors. Among the measures being implemented are road repairs, security reinforcement on coastal areas and those favorite with tourists, and cleanup and sanitation campaigns.
Additionally, there’s another important wave of tourists coming from the United States as part of summer break. Many of them take advantage of this time to visit Costa Rica via Liberia’s Daniel Oduber International Airport. Only in the first quarter of this year, the influx of passengers through this terminal reached 156,028 people, according to data provided by the Civil Aviation General Office. This represent an increase of 13 percent compared to the same period in 2007, as confirmed by Mauricio Cespedes, executive director of the Guanacaste Chamber of Tourism (CATURGUA).
CANATUR President Gonzalo Vargas said the mid-year vacation is a great opportunity for families to take advantage of the country’s many and diverse destinations and enjoy very accessible prices.
With the goal of providing local tourists with different options in terms of destinations to visit, CANATUR and state-owned Banco Nacional are forging ahead with a discount campaign all of this year, called “Be a tourist in your own country, all year-long, at a very small price.” The focus of this campaign is on providing Costa Ricans a 35 percent discount on a variety of tourism options such as beach and mountain hotels, one-day tours and extreme sports, as well as personal care establishments and tourism services such as rent-a-cars.
“Through this campaign we are trying to promote domestic tourism, so that Costa Rican families benefit from discounts, allowing them to get to know many of the places and paradisiacal destinations Costa Rica has, which for so long have been thought of as exclusive to foreign tourists,” Vargas said.
More than 40 tourism-sector businesses are participating in this campaign, offering 35 percent discounts to national tourists as long as they pay with Banco Nacional-issued debit or credit cards.
“Even though the objective of this campaign is to promote domestic tourism and benefit Costa Ricans, it also seeks to benefit companies taking part in this agreement by increasing the number of visitors and reservations not only during the low tourism season, but all throughout the year, thus keeping satisfactory occupancy levels to allow for the growth of this industry all over the country,” Vargas concluded.
