Costa Rican ports have received 203 vessels to date during the 2018-2019 cruise ship season, which began last year on August 23 with the arrival of the Sea Princess out of Key West, United States, and her 1,870 passengers to JAPDEVA’s Hernán Garrón Salazar terminal in Limón.

In the next four months, another 46 boats are expected to set in to the five main ports in the country: Limón, Caldera, Quepos, Golfito and Puntarenas, which will welcome the last ship of the season, the Queen Elizabeth, on July 13.

This will bring the total for the season to 249 cruise ships, 153 of which arrived at Pacific ports and 96 of which docked the Caribbean, which represents an increase of 9.2% over the previous period, which saw 228 arrivals.

Once on land, passengers have the option to choose between various tours offered by local operators, transport companies and guides, which promote the history, exuberant natural surroundings, cuisine and diverse culture of Costa Rica’s Pacific and Caribbean coasts.

Each cruise ship passenger spends, on average, $137 per day, which has a major impact on the revitalization of the local economy of coastal communities. By the end of the 2018-2019 season, an estimated 354,800 cruise ship passengers will have arrived in the country.

“The growth over this season in the arrival of cruise ships is further proof of the challenges that we have ahead of us in terms of port infrastructure, arrival centers for cruise ship passengers, increases in visits to the port cities in which they dock and a higher spending level in the country’s coastal region, among others”, said the Minister of Tourism, Maria Amalia Revelo.

How is Costa Rica able to attract more cruise ships?

The Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT) maintains direct contact with the world’s four largest cruise ship industry groups: Carnival Group, Royal Caribbean, Star and Mediterranean Shipping Cruises.

ICT holds joint working sessions with the port authorities of INCOP and JAPDEVA in which they discuss issues related to the improvement of infrastructure and the tourist offer, as well as provisioning fees and services, seeking to increase the frequency with which these vessels come to the country.