Costa Rica Tourism Industry Tourism industry is the best in Costa Rica. Just check the economic indicators of the whole country, the more developed in tourism of Central America. Even during 2005 and 2006 it was higher demand of hosting than the country can offer ( around a 25% ). Costa Rica is well knew in Europa and USA because of its ecological diversity and amazing tourism attractions. Costa Rica tourism incentives Costa Rica has a national law since 1985 ( 6990 law ) that declares Tourism Industry of "public utility" and with this law the I.C.T. ( Instituto Costarricense de Turismo , Costa Rica tourism institute ) gives many incentives to the tourism business, for example :
- Tax exoneration for buying supplies for the tourism business
- Tax exoneration for building tourism infrastructure
- Tax exoneration for buying motorboats, cars, etc... that will be used for tourism acivities
- Faster depreciation for tourism actives
Source: "Ley de incentivos para el desarrollo turístico , 6990".
Costa Rica tourism economic indicators
We are showing only some economic indicators in order to figure out the importance of tourism industry in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica Tourism comparing with other Costa Rica economic activities
Data is in US million dolars
| Year |
Tourism |
Coffee |
Banana |
| 1999 |
1,036 |
288 |
623 |
| 2000 |
1,229 |
272 |
546 |
| 2001 |
1,095 |
161 |
516 |
| 2002 |
1,078 |
165 |
478 |
| 2003 |
1,199 |
195 |
554 |
| 2004 |
1,357 |
193 |
553 |
Costa Rica Tourist arrivals from 2001 to 2004
Amount of tourist arrivals is increasing year by year
| Year |
Arrivals |
| 2001 |
1,131,046 |
| 2002 |
1,113,359 |
| 2003 |
1,238,692 |
| 2004 |
1,452,926 |
Costa Rica Running hotels and related enterprises by province ( 2004 )Distribution on hosting enterprises around the country
| Province |
Quantity |
| Puntarenas |
904 |
| Limón |
359 |
| Guanacaste |
347 |
| San José |
310 |
| Alajuela |
261 |
| Heredia |
97 |
| Cartago |
47 |
Tourism compared to GIP (Gross Internal Product ) and exportations
The tourism activity is very important compared with total Costa Rica GIP and exportations
| Year |
Relation to GIP (%) |
Relation to Exportations |
| 2001 |
6.7 % |
21.8 % |
| 2002 |
6.4 % |
20.5 % |
| 2003 |
6.9 % |
19.7 % |
| 2004 |
7.4 % |
21.5 % |
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