AFP, San Jose :
Increasing numbers of Europeans are boosting Costa Rica’s thriving tourism industry, but lagging infrastructure and regional connectivity are crimping its potential, an investment conference in San Jose heard on Friday.
The country stands head and shoulders over the rest of Central America in tourism numbers, receiving 2.9 million visitors a year, many attracted by its eco-friendly image, Tourism Minister Mauricio Ventura told a seminar of French foreign trade advisers from across the region.
Americans account for around 40 percent. Europeans represent a quarter, but their numbers are rapidly growing following the introduction over the past year of direct flights Britain, France, Germany and Switzerland.
Europeans also spend more time in the country-an average of 18 nights compared to 12 for Americans-meaning more tourism revenue, Ventura said.
“Other countries in Central America have a great deal to do to improve” their images to achieve Costa Rica’s level of success, said Thierry de Pierrefeu, former Honduran tourism minister.
He noted that the reputation for violence in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras scares off most tourists.
Pia Lackman, the manager for Air France-KLM in Central America, said her airline had found its new direct flights to Costa Rica to be “very successful.”
Increasing numbers of Europeans are boosting Costa Rica’s thriving tourism industry, but lagging infrastructure and regional connectivity are crimping its potential, an investment conference in San Jose heard on Friday.
The country stands head and shoulders over the rest of Central America in tourism numbers, receiving 2.9 million visitors a year, many attracted by its eco-friendly image, Tourism Minister Mauricio Ventura told a seminar of French foreign trade advisers from across the region.
Americans account for around 40 percent. Europeans represent a quarter, but their numbers are rapidly growing following the introduction over the past year of direct flights Britain, France, Germany and Switzerland.
Europeans also spend more time in the country-an average of 18 nights compared to 12 for Americans-meaning more tourism revenue, Ventura said.
“Other countries in Central America have a great deal to do to improve” their images to achieve Costa Rica’s level of success, said Thierry de Pierrefeu, former Honduran tourism minister.
He noted that the reputation for violence in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras scares off most tourists.
Pia Lackman, the manager for Air France-KLM in Central America, said her airline had found its new direct flights to Costa Rica to be “very successful.”
