The General Direction of Civil Aviation in Costa Rica invested this year ₵13.6 billion colones, (around US$24 million) in the local or national airports with the hopes of increasing the number of tourists that choose to travel by plane to the different national destinations, the plan is to invest an additional ₵7.2 billion colones in 2018.

The funds this year were used in the airports of Coto 47, Puerto Jimenez, Golfito, Drake, Quepos, Palmar Sur, Los Chiles, and Upala.

“We are reinforcing the investment in local airports, like never before, with billions between all of them, taking local airports to “decent” levels, some are pretty much ready with a nice terminal, areas for the planes, renovated airstrips, improved protected areas, and perimetric fence”, explained the Minister of Tourism Mauricio Ventura.

Air traveling inside the country is a great option to avoid the heavy traffic that affects the country, it saves a lot of time especially for those who have to constantly travel long distances for business or other reasons.

“Having airports in good conditions will help with the development of areas such as Golfito, Puerto Jiménez and Drake, that clearly depend on local airports to generate tourism and promote the visitation of the areas”, continued Ventura.

The airports that will receive the additional investment next year are Puerto Jimenez, Upala, Guápiles, Palmar Sur, Pérez Zeledón and Barra de Tortuguero.

This investment is part of the efforts the Government is making in improving the infrastructure to satisfy the demand and offer a better service to the growing number of tourists that visit Costa Rica every year; the government also announced recently important investments in the international airports both in technology and infrastructure.

The bad conditions of the roads, a problem that just got worse with the damages caused by Tropical Storm Nate makes aerial transportation a necessary alternative.

“When these infrastructures are in better conditions, this will stimulate new tourism investments, hotels, and new attractions in the areas”, concluded Ventura.