The profile of European tourists that visit Costa Rica differs in many ways from that of the North American and Latin American tourist.

Even though North America continues to be the biggest market for Costa Rica’s tourism with over 1.3 million visitors between January and November 2017 (according to statistics by the Costa Rica Tourism Board-ICT); the efforts made by ICT to attract more tourists from Europe has paid off and in that same period (January through November 2017) statistics show a total 415,508 visitors from Europe, the majority from UK, Germany, Spain and France.

European tourists usually spend more time in the country, this obviously due to the long flight time it takes for them to get to Costa Rica; they also usually travel in couples, and prefer to stay in small Eco-friendly lodges, they prefer go to isolated locations away from the crowds and participate in cultural activities and the everyday life of the country that allows them to really experience Costa Rica.

The fact that these tourists are not very interested in staying in one place for their entire vacation or settle for a luxury all-inclusive hotel in Guanacaste and a few popular tours, has made the tourism industry in Costa Rica reevaluate their offers and come up with new and innovative options for this market.

“They move more, they visit three, four or five different places, so their expenditure is distributed in many different areas”, explained Mauricio Ventura, Minister of Tourism.

Small boutique hotels, comfortable and preferably eco-friendly, with a great service, and that offer unique experiences that allow them to relate to the community, is the recipe to satisfy European tourists.

Tour operators have also had to invest in hiring personnel that speak other languages other than Spanish and English or invest in training their current staff.

Adaptation of the tourism industry to these new requirements will continue, as the Costa Rica Tourism Board continues to promote Costa Rica as a destination for European tourists and new direct flights are expected to be announced in the near future including possibly Turkish Airways and Norwegian Air.