Canadian Tourism Increasing in Costa Rica
Posted by Adam Sax on Thu, Aug 02, 2012 @ 05:20 PM
Reposted By: Jesse Montgomery, from Inside Costa Rica
The interest of Canadian travelers to fly into Costa Rican territory is growing. This was determined by interest of airlines to open new flights from Canada.
There are currently three existing airlines that fly from Toronto and Montreal to both national airports in Costa Rica.
The arrival of more Canadians could be important income for the Costa Rican economy because the country is one of the wealthiest in the world.
"The increase of flights from Canada is in part due to the signing of the Air Transport Agreement between the two countries," said Luis Carlos Araya, Deputy of Air Transportation.
TACA was the first to launch into full force to attract the Canadian market. Since July 1st, TACA expanded its flights between San Jose and Toronto from three flights weekly to a one daily.
The strategy of TACA to expand the market doesn’t stop there; it is in the process of adding a direct flight from Juan Santamaria to Montreal. The flight to Montreal, which has no start date, will stop at the airport in El Salvador.
Air Canada also increased its operations to Costa Rica, but not from the capital. Liberia, Guanacaste is the next destination the U.S. Company is interested in exploring next semester.
These aren't the only airlines that are interested in connecting Canada with Costa Rica.
West Jet, a Canadian airline is also exploring flights to Costa Rica. Although the low-cost airline is interested in adding Costa Rica to its flight schedule, they have not made a formal proposal.
There are two main purposes of Canadian tourists wanting to travel to Costa Rica; the first is to enjoy recreation and adventure offered by national tourist regions and secondly are those traveling for medical tourism.
For Costa Ricans, the arrival of these new flights will provide them with more opportunity to travel to Canada. Those who know Montreal say nobody can leave without trying the smoked beef sandwich at Schwartz's restaurant.
This destination also offers Old Montreal, which is the colonial part surrounded by cafes, night clubs and bars.
In Toronto, tourists can take a photo at the CN Tower, a huge building of 553 meters, or visit the SkyDome stadium.