Rodrigo Castro. Costa Rica´s Tourism Minister

Q- How´s the British marketing doing as far as Costa Rica is concerned?

A- Indeed, the European market, in general terms, has been putting quite an interesting show all through 2003 and 2004, with growths hovering around 30 percent. The British market is a 23,000-tourist-a-year market with growth also in the neighborhood of 30 percent and counting with each passing year.

That pattern is similar for both the British and the Spanish markets, even though we receive more Spaniards than Britons every year. If my memory fails me not, I think England is the fifth largest European market for us. However, the World Travel Market is a major fair for us, not only for the chance it provides to pay attention to the British market, but also because this is a very important tradeshow that opens a good window of opportunity to do business with other destinations, other places.

Q- What British airlines are now flying nonstop to Costa Rica?

A- As we speak, there´re no British airlines flying nonstop to Costa Rica. We´ve held preliminary talks with British Airways, but the chances of having BA make nonstop flights to the country in the near future are pretty slim. Nevertheless, there´re excellent connections through the United States. For instance, we have an almost immediate connection via Washington with United Airlines. We do have direct flights from Madrid. There are nine weekly flights from Spain to Costa Rica, seven with Iberia and two with Air Madrid. That eases the connection between London and Madrid, and from the Spanish capital to San Jose.

Q- What´s the average amount of money that a British, a German or a Spanish tourist spends in the country?

A- That´s a pretty similar figure for all of them, with stays that average fourteen days and spending somewhere around $1,800 per tourist.

Q- Is there any distinction between women´s and men´s tourism?

A- We´re rather trying to strengthen the image of our country as a family destination, a destination that combines sunshine, beach, nature and adventure in one solid package. That´s the kind of strength we want to underscore in the European market as far as our region is concerned.

Q- Costa Rica is considering heavy investments in infrastructure, chiefly in new roads for the next ten years. How´s that plan going right now?

A- We´ve been working very hard on building new basic infrastructure to support the travel industry, though that infrastructure fits a variety of other purposes as well. However, we´re stressing on the need to build new roads and airports. We managed to get a new airport going a couple of years ago, an international airport in the North Pacific region, especially in the province of Guanacaste. That terminal is for the time being operating flights to and from the U.S. We can and we will be able, in a somewhat near future, to have nonstop flights toward Europe. That´s a sun-and-sand kind of tourist we´re talking about, not exactly an adventure seeker, but the blend of sunshine, beach and nature could do the trick for the entire region. We´re also going at great lengths in the field of cruise terminals, both on the Pacific and Caribbean coasts.

Now referring to normal and natural investment that tourism requires -like new power grids, new sewerage systems and water supplies- well, we´re working on that, too. These achievements are owed to an all-embracing national tourism development plan that we unveiled back in the year 2002.

Q- Is there any new Spanish hotel chain ready to put its smart money on Costa Rica?

A- I don´t know about any new investment of that sort. But I can tell you that those companies that have already set up shop in the country are pouring funds into the business, I mean, in new hotels, the remodeling of old lodgings and the expansion of other establishments in the area.