Press Release/ The tourism activity continues to grow and remains as the most dynamic sector in Costa Rica’s economy. This was highlighted by the First Vice-president of the Republic, Helio Fallas, during the inauguration of the Alajuela Touristic Expo: “Something more than a Volcano”, that took place at the City Mall.

According to data by the Central Bank the inbound tourism grew by 12.3% in the first semester of 2016 in comparison to the same period of 2015. Meanwhile, the incoming amount of dollars, U.S. currency, raised by 15.9% in the first semester of this year in comparison to the first semester of last year.

The Vice-president referred to the strategy developed by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) to attract more tourists, through the attraction of new airlines, the increase in the frequency of flights, and the process being carried out to begin the construction of a National Convention Center.

“The ICT has managed to make the number of visitors arriving to the Juan Santamaría Airport grow by two digits. Between January and September 2016 the amount of seats increased by 236,884, which translates into a growth of 11.5% in relation with the same period in 2015”, he commented.

The Alajuela Touristic Expo took place October 15 and 16 under the organization of the Alajuela Municipality with the purpose of supporting the small and medium size tourism companies in Alajuela and promoting the landscaping beauty, the historical heritage and the culture of the region. Over 100 tourism companies participated in the event.

The Tourism Minister, Mauricio Ventura commented “Costa Rica is a multi-destination in itself, because we offer a diverse tourism product, which is also distributed throughout the entire country; it is very important that we encourage this type of initiatives that promote the diversification of the tourism offer and that also provides a platform for the small and medium enterprises of Alajuela”.