Costa Rica’s wave of recognition maintains momentum

Personal villa specialist Rental Escapes already has over 100 properties in Costa Rica. However chief advertising officer Willie Fernandez is working to develop that portfolio by almost 60% — inside these subsequent few weeks alone.

“I want the stock to fulfill the demand,” Fernandez stated.

Though Costa Rica has lengthy loved loads of recognition amongst U.S. vacationers, journey advisors and suppliers say that curiosity within the vacation spot has accelerated, pushed partially by a pandemic-era choice for locations that provide a big selection of outside actions on high of continued pent-up demand for extra memorable experiences.

“For the reason that pandemic, somebody’s bucket checklist has now change into their to-do checklist,” Fernandez stated. “And they’re concerned with actually venturing off to distinctive locations and increasing their expertise footprint.”

Costa Rica has almost picked up the place it left off in 2019 by way of tourism numbers. Carolina Trejos, director of promoting for the Costa Rica Tourism Board, stated the nation ended 2022 with the amount of worldwide guests arriving by air at round 10% beneath 2019 ranges. This yr, Costa Rica expects its worldwide customer rely to bounce again to its 2019 benchmark of roughly 3.1 million guests.

“With resort occupancy, we’re additionally seeing very, excellent numbers,” stated Trejos. “For our excessive season, which began in mid-November and is anticipated [to run through] per week after Easter, we predict virtually 100% occupancy.” 

Costa Rica has additionally seen a latest inflow of extra prosperous vacationers, who are likely to spend extra throughout their go to, “which is nice information, so far as more cash being invested in our communities, our small companies, excursions, providers and resorts,” Trejos stated.

And he or she added that these luxury-market vacationers will quickly have extra choices on the subject of high-end resort and resort lodging. The nation is ready to welcome new properties from a number of luxurious manufacturers, together with Six Senses, Waldorf Astoria and One&Solely, over the following few years.

Heightened demand for upscale lodging has meant that competitors for some luxurious choices may be fierce. Jude Vargas, founding father of luxurious journey company Artwork of Voyage, stories that shoppers seeking to ebook high-end villa properties in sizzling spots like Santa Teresa and Nosara typically want to maneuver shortly.

“If you need a very nice, superbly designed villa, you actually should be reserving out properly upfront,” stated Vargas, including that she recommends shoppers on the lookout for these extremely fascinating lodging ebook a yr or extra out.

A possibility for advisors

For journey advisors, Costa Rica’s rising recognition presents a chance.

“We get a number of requests for Costa Rica, as a result of it isn’t a straightforward factor for individuals to ebook on their very own,” stated Carolyn Sandgren, president of Missouri-based Elite Journey Inc. & Cruise. “The proper journey to Costa Rica [involves] flying into San Jose, spending a while up within the volcanoes after which coming all the way down to the seashore and flying dwelling. And when you’ve got an open jaw — the place you fly into one airport, and also you fly out of one other — it is a tougher factor to ebook on-line.”

Sandgren stated she recommends Costa Rica to shoppers on the lookout for a brand new vacation spot.

“When you’ve got shoppers who’ve already been to Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Jamaica and Punta Cana they usually name you and ask you for one thing new, any seasoned agent goes to begin to look to Costa Rica and shifting them into Central America,” Sandgren stated.

However regardless of sturdy demand, Costa Rica remains to be considerably unchartered territory for a large share of U.S. advisors. Rental Escapes’ Fernandez, nevertheless, predicts that is prone to change quickly.

“We see extra requests for Costa Rica coming in direct proper now than we do from journey advisors, however advisors are reaching out and doing their homework,” Fernandez stated. “As the patron gravitates increasingly towards Costa Rica, and the journey advisor turns into extra educated on Costa Rica, I anticipate that we’ll see an incredible quantity of [business start] coming from the journey advisors.”