CR's Tourism Industry Sees Signs Of Recovery
Sep 24, 2009
SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA (InfoWebPress – www.journalcr.com)
The National Chamber of Tourism (CANATUR) is forecasting a recovery in the country’s tourism activity during the second semester of 2009, following the severe effects of the global recession.
One of the factors the industry group is trusting as part of the recovery is the change of hands in the management of San Jose’s Juan Santamaria International Airport, which is the backbone of travel to Costa Rica — with nearly 5 million tourists entering and leaving that airport every year.
CANATUR also highlighted the tourism businesses’ will to improve competitiveness and provide better services. The election of a new president early next year is also a factor being considered.
Regarding this last point, tourism business owners are hoping presidential candidates define clear policies that would benefit the tourism sector, which in 2008 injected $2.16 billion into the local economy when combining regular tourist visitation and short cruise ship stops in the country.
“The country is facing an electoral period during which, as a business sector, we will speak about our needs and will — something we have never lacked — to support any initiative that would strengthen us as industry and would improve the competitiveness of companies that day by day give the best of themselves to make the experience of tourists who come here the best of their lives,” said Gonzalo Vargas, president of CANATUR.
Vargas believes it is urgent to provide solutions to issues that derail the effectiveness of the tourism industry, including problems at the country’s airports, lack of legal security for local and foreign investors — whom, according to CANATUR’s president, deserve guarantees that their investments here will be sustainable, profitable and will result in employment generation.
Other concerns of the tourism sector include port infrastructure, accessibility to national parks, and better roads without potholes and traffic jams and with adequate signage.
“(Solving these issues) is our way to survive in a world where more and more countries every day see tourism as their option for eradicating poverty and solve the problems of their economies,” Vargas pointed out. “This leads to very strong competition for attracting tourists.”
Although the first half of 2009 ended with dismal numbers for an industry that had become accustomed to great gains, Vargas said, it is important to increase efforts to better compete.
According to preliminary data, influx of tourists from the United States during the first semester of 2009 contracted by 13 percent; Mexican tourists declined by 23 percent; and travel by Canadians fell by 12 percent. As a region, North America sent 13 percent less tourists during the first six months of this year. The European market, on which Costa Rica had bet by investing heavily in joint promotional campaigns, also shrank, but not as much, by 5 percent.
The Central American market, which is important in the business tourism category, has also suffered from the current recession. During the same period of time, travel has been slashed by 9 percent compared with the same period in 2008. Last year, a total of 2,089,174 tourists visited Costa Rica overall.