Costa Rica has its sights set on welcoming even more Canadians in 2025 — and it’s backing that ambition with added airlift and a firm commitment to the trade. A major announcement about enhanced connections from Canada to Costa Rica is expected within the month, signalling strong momentum for the destination.
“Canada is a very important market for us. We are planning to increase the number from Canada this year by about 5%,” William Rodriguez Lopez, Minister of Tourism for the Costa Rican Tourism Institute, told Open Jaw and other trade media.
“You are going to have the best connections from Canada to Costa Rica really soon.”
Twelve travel partners — ranging from DMCs to hotels and airlines—were on hand to share updates. As advisors mingled and networked, lush cinematic projections of Costa Rica’s people, wildlife, and rainforest landscapes washed over the venue walls. The event, hosted by VoX International at the visually immersive Illuminarium, was part of a three-city Canadian roadshow, preceded by a stop in Vancouver and followed by one in Montreal.
Building on a Strong Canadian Base
Canada is Costa Rica’s second-largest source market, with more than 273,000 Canadians arriving by air in 2024. The country sees room to grow, especially as more Canadians look beyond traditional US sun destinations.
A new airport in the south of the country — announced prior to any downturn in US travel—is part of long-term infrastructure investments. The capital’s Juan Santamaría International Airport is also undergoing a multi-million-dollar expansion project with a new terminal.
To help drive demand and educate the market, Costa Rica is leaning into FAM and press trips, and a broader push to tell its story. The tourism board also offers a variety of educational resources and certification programs designed to build expertise and foster deeper connections with the destination.
“Extremely Important”: Travel Advisors Are Front and Centre
Rodriguez Lopez made it clear: travel advisors are “extremely important” to the destination.
“It’s the largest way for travellers to buy in the case of Costa Rica. When the destination is a bit farther away, usually travellers prefer to have the advice of the travel agent or tour operator,” he said.
The Toronto event was designed to reinforce that relationship and give Canadian advisors the tools they need to sell more effectively.
“The key message is to tell the Canadian travel agent that you have a wonderful destination just five or six hours away in compliance with the desires that the actual traveller is looking for. Contact with nature, contact with people, and so on,” explained Rodriguez Lopez. “We think the attractions of Costa Rica are already known, but we don’t sell the attractions — we sell the experiences related to those attractions and that is our key message.”
To help travellers — and travel advisors — tap into those experiences, Costa Rica has launched an AI-powered trip planning tool. Available on the country’s official tourism website, the AI trip planner can build out a full itinerary and make personalized recommendations based on traveller preferences.
“The goal is not to take away the knowledge of the advisor, but to supplement it,” said Debbie Wegiel, Public Relations Manager at VoX.
Quality Over Quantity
Costa Rica has long been known for its sustainability-focused experiences and commitment to responsible travel. While aiming for a modest increase in visitors, the country is prioritizing quality over quantity.
“We strongly believe it’s not the number of visitors that we could have, but the quality of visitors we want to have,” said Rodriguez Lopez. “Overtourism, we don’t want that. We prefer to have less tourists in quantity, but better tourists in quality.”
Part of that strategy includes dispersing travellers beyond well-trodden hot spots and attractions to other regions — equally beautiful and experience-rich — identified by the government as suitable for tourism growth.
