English
Tourism in Costa Rica is one of the main economic sectors and fastest growing in the country
Costa Rica stands out as the most visited destination in Central America
Tourism in Costa Rica is one of the main economic sectors and fastest growing in the country and since 1995 is the first source of income of the economy . Since 1999, tourism generated more income for the foreign country that the export of traditional crops of bananas, pineapple and coffee together. The development of tourism began in 1987. In 2008, tourism contributed 7.2% of GDP and 22.7% of foreign exchange generated by exports, and in 2005 accounted for 13.3% of direct and indirect jobs.
The main advantage of Costa Rica is its system of national parks and protected areas, covering about 25% of the country, most of the planet as a percentage, and contains a rich variety of flora and fauna, which contains an estimated 5% of the world’s biodiversity in less than 0.1% of Earth’s land mass. In addition, Costa Rica has numerous beaches in the Pacific Ocean and in the Caribbean Sea with both coasts separated by only a few hundred miles, and tourists can visit safely several volcanoes located in National Parks.
Costa Rica stands out as the most visited destination in Central America, with a total of 1.9 million foreign tourists in 2007. In 2008, despite the onset of the global economic crisis, the number of tourists exceeded the historic milestone of 2 million foreign visitors. Pandemic Influenza A H1N1 along with the crisis affected the influx of tourists and the jobs of the sector for 2 years. In 2010 the industry recovered and the number of visitors reached a record with 2.098 million tourists.
Ecotourism is extremely popular among foreign tourists visiting the extensive number of national parks and protected areas that exist throughout the country. Costa Rica was a pioneer in ecotourism worldwide
