Costa Rica Tourism Report Q1 2015: New research report available at Fast Market Research

There are positive trends apparent in the Costa Rican tourist industry, with arrivals growth feeding into a virtuous circle of growing tourism, more hotel construction and greater investment in the industry. We believe that the government's efforts to support the industry through infrastructure development will continue to bring benefits, particularly if the long-delayed road project between San Jose and Limon goes ahead.

Costa Rica is expected to have recorded a stellar year in 2014; we project arrivals growth of 9.8% year-on-year (y-o-y), bringing the total number of tourists to 2.7mn. This was the highest growth rate since the downturn of 2007 and indicates that the industry has now returned to a sustained growth path. Strong growth from the US led this surge in arrivals, with arrivals from North America expected to grow by 13.0% in 2014. This will more than compensate for ongoing weakness in Europe; we project low arrivals growth of 3.0% in 2014 and declines in 2015 and 2016. We remain positive on the outlook for Costa Rica's tourist market and note that lower forecast arrivals growth in 2015, of 1.6%, is a consequence of high base effects and not an indication of a slowdown in the market. While we do not expect arrivals to grow at 2014's rate over the rest of the forecast period, we expect steady arrivals growth, with a concomitant increase in hotels and restaurant value.

Full Report Details at
- http://www.fastmr.com/prod/912286_costa_rica_tourism_report_q1_2015.aspx?afid=301

Key forecasts for Costa Rica's tourism industry:

* BMI has revised down its forecast for tourist arrivals in 2015 and is now targeting 1.6% growth to 2.7mn. Weak economic growth in Europe continues to weigh on visitors to Costa Rica, and in 2015, European arrivals to Costa Rica will decline by 0.5%, to 296,880 and then again by 0.4% to 295,720 in 2016.
* Costa Rica's hotels and restaurants industry value will increase to USD1.7bn in 2015, a 2.3% y-o-y increase, and then rise to USD1.8bn by 2018.

Key developments:

* A plan to build a road connection between the capital, San Jose, and...

The Costa Rica Tourism Report has been researched at source and features Business Monitor International (BMI)'s independent assessment and forecasts for tourist expenditure; government expenditure on tourism; passenger arrivals and departures by mode of transport, reason for travel, origin and destination; and the accommodation market.

BMI's Costa Rica Tourism Report provides industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, associations, government departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on the Costa Rican tourism industry.

Key Benefits

* Benchmark BMI's independent tourism industry forecasts for Costa Rica to test other views - a key input for successful budgetary and planning in the Costa Rican tourism market.

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