VZCZCXYZ0003
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSJ #0213 0361707
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051707Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7142
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SAN JOSE 000213 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA/CEN 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EINV ETRD ECON CS
SUBJECT:  TOURISM LAGS IN COSTA RICA 
 
¶1. Summary:   Costa Rican tourism officials recently released data 
for the first eight months of 2006 which suggest that tourism growth 
is slowing in Costa Rica despite apparent gains elsewhere in Latin 
America.  In addition, the data indicates that tourism from North 
American markets to Costa Rica has actually declined.  In 2005 
tourism represented 7.9% of GDP and employed approximately 365,000 
people.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  GOCR recently released tourism data for the first eight months 
of 2006 indicating that versus the same period in 2005 tourism grew 
only 1.8% in 2006.  Tourism from North America actually declined 
3.3% during that period.  Note: entry figures by foreigners 
overstate real tourism since many "tourists" are in fact residents 
who simply leave and re-enter the country four times each year 
rather than pay for the much more complicated and expensive process 
of actually getting official residency status. 
 
¶3.  The nearly 650,000 North Americans who entered Costa Rica in the 
first eight months of 2006 represent 50% of all tourist entries into 
the country.  GOCR spent heavily on advertising in Germany before 
and during the 2006 Soccer World Cup in an attempt to increase 
tourism from Germany with disappointing results.  Costa Rica dumped 
$4.5 million into an advertising blitz during the World Cup games in 
June.  Although there may be some lag time before a visible return 
on investment, tourism officials are chagrined that the latest 
statistics show a 2.6 percent decline in visitors from Germany 
during the first eight months of 2006. 
 
¶4.  Tourism operators are impatient with the slowness of data 
collection since they must rely upon it for planning purposes.  In 
addition, some traditional operators are concerned that tourism is 
shifting away from the Central Valley and Caribbean coast to the 
Pacific coast, especially the Guanacaste region, due to increasing 
use of the airport at Liberia. The shift in tourism to Guanacaste is 
likely to accelerate with the establishment of U.S. chain hotels 
such as Hyatt, Hilton, St. Regis and Holiday Inn, all of whom have 
development plans at various stages. 
 
¶5. The growth in Guanacaste masks serious declines in other areas of 
the country. The minister of public transportion has expressed 
interest in developing several new international airports in areas 
currently difficult to reach in order to disburse the economic 
benefits of tourism. 
 
LANGDALE