Last Tuesday marks the start of the official start of the tourism high season in Costa Rica. Normally, hotels would always hike their rates during the four-month period from December to April in the hopes of maximizing their profits.
This year might be a bit different, however, as most hotels have decided that they will delay the seasonal price hike to attract more customers and help the industry bounce back. The past months have been particularly difficult for the tourism industry as a whole, as less people visited the country during October 2009, going down to around 12,000 visits in October 2008.
With more people holding more tightly to their money than usual, this should not be any surprise anymore. It was actually a bit surprising because the Costa Rican tourism industry has somehow kept well during the first months of the year until August, when tourist arrivals seem to have reached an all-time bottom.
With this, the Costa Rican tourism industry has learned that it is important to market the industry at all times. One cannot just rest on his/her laurels and expect to remain on top of this highly competitive industry. For example, business owners from the Manuel Antonio area have been busily promoting the region during international events, such as an international boat show in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
In the first ten months of the year, Costa Rica has recorded a total of 1.59 million visits. Though there are still two more months to be recorded, it is already expected that 2009 will be a worse year compared to the 2.1 million visits in 2008. These figures, however, are also expected to be much better in 2010 when the global economy is predicted to recover.
Actually, this presents a very good situation for all people here who have been living as expats in Costa Rica for quite some time. This means lower prices for the top vacation spots, which, in turn, mean longer vacations for you. How about that?
