The tourism industry keeps being the most important income for the Costa Rican economy
Tourism revenues totaled $809 million in the first quarter of this year, this is the highest amount recorded in a single quarter in the past 13 years, and it was 13% higher than in the same period in 2011.
Income by foreign direct investment, for its part, reached $504 million, 6% less than in the same period of 2011 and with a tendency to slowdown.
Data come from the results of the quarterly balance of payments published by the Central Bank, which contains information on income and foreign exchange outlets.
In this scale tourism revenues are recorded in the category “travel” on the part of credits, which are accounted for resources that enter the country by goods and services travelers acquire here, for your stay in one period of less than a year.
William Rodriguez, spokesman for the National Chamber of Tourism, attributed the increase to three factors: the increase in income from tourists from United States, increases flights to the airport in Liberia, Guanacaste, and the advocacy efforts of the country of the Costa Rican Institute of Tourism and the Chamber.
“The (cause) that I believe is most important are new promotional efforts that have been made”, said Rodriguez. This change was greater use of electronic media.
In foreign direct investment includes new companies that come to the country, expansion of operations of foreign firms already operating on national soil, or purchases of firms or local properties, among others.
Gabriela Llobet, Executive Director of the Coalition of Development Initiatives (CINDE), responsible for attracting direct investment to the country, explained that income does not have a cyclic behavior.
“Behavior inflows of foreign direct investment is often not necessarily equal at different times of the year (i.e., is not necessarily cyclic), thus many times comparisons in periods such as those listed may show minimal decreases or divergences”, explained. She added that they maintain the stated goal for this year, capturing about $2,250 million.
