More than two million international tourists arrived in Costa Rica during the first seven months of 2026, confirming continued growth in the country’s tourism sector and revealing important changes in where visitors are arriving from and where they are choosing to enter the country.
Between January and July, Costa Rica recorded 2,001,660 international tourist arrivals, according to the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), based on information provided by the General Directorate of Migration and Immigration. The figure represents a 6.4% increase compared with the same period in 2025.
The milestone marks an important point for the tourism industry, but the numbers also reveal another trend worth watching: growth is not occurring at the same rate across all entry points or international markets.
Guanacaste Gains Ground as a Gateway
One of the most notable changes can be seen at Guanacaste Airport in Liberia.
Between January and July 2026, 698,079 international tourists entered Costa Rica through the airport, representing a 13.3% increase compared with the same period in 2025. In July alone, 89,947 international visitors arrived through Guanacaste Airport, up 12.6% year over year.
Juan Santamaría International Airport remained the country’s busiest international gateway. It received 1,154,732 international tourists during the first seven months of the year, an increase of 3.6% compared with the same period in 2025.
The difference in growth rates is significant. While the airport serving the Central Valley remains dominant, Guanacaste is expanding at a much faster pace.
This strengthens Liberia’s role as a gateway for visitors heading toward the beaches of northern Pacific Costa Rica and the Nicoya Peninsula.
Air Travel Continues to Drive Tourism
The vast majority of international visitors continue to arrive by air.
Of the 2,001,660 international tourists recorded between January and July, 1,853,430 arrived by air, while 142,780 entered through land or water routes. Air arrivals increased by 7% compared with the same period of 2025, while land and water arrivals declined by 1.7%.
These figures highlight the importance of international air connectivity for Costa Rica’s tourism industry.
The ICT publishes statistics on air connectivity, including airlines, routes and international connections, providing an overview of how the country’s access to global tourism markets is evolving.
The United States Remains the Largest Market
North America continues to dominate Costa Rica’s international tourism arrivals.
The United States remained by far the country’s largest tourism market, with 1,142,234 visitors arriving between January and July. Americans represented approximately 57% of all international arrivals during the period, although arrivals from the United States grew by only 0.4%.
Canada, meanwhile, recorded much stronger growth. The country sent 220,691 tourists to Costa Rica during the first seven months of the year, an increase of 24.4% compared with the same period in 2025.
Europe also continued to expand as a source market, with 315,340 arrivals, representing an 8.4% increase.
The figures suggest that while the United States remains the foundation of Costa Rica’s tourism market, other international markets are becoming increasingly important to overall growth.
Growth Is Coming From Multiple Markets
The tourism expansion in 2026 is not limited to North America.
According to the latest figures, arrivals increased from North America, South America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Caribbean and the Middle East. At the same time, arrivals from Central America and Africa declined.
For Costa Rica’s tourism industry, this diversification can be significant.
A broader range of source markets can help hotels, vacation rentals, tour operators, restaurants and other tourism businesses reduce their dependence on a single market and adapt their services to changing visitor profiles.
What Does the Growth Mean for Local Tourism?
Passing the two-million-visitor mark does not mean that every destination or tourism business is growing at the same pace.
Costa Rica’s tourism industry covers a wide range of destinations, from Pacific and Caribbean beaches to national parks, volcanoes, forests, wetlands and rural communities.
One of the key questions for the rest of 2026 will therefore be how this additional visitor volume is distributed throughout the country.
The ICT publishes a range of tourism indicators beyond international arrivals, including information related to tourism spending, average length of stay, employment, hotel activity and accommodation supply.
These indicators are important because the number of arrivals alone does not tell the entire story.
What visitors spend, how long they stay, where they travel and how much of their spending reaches local communities are equally important measures of tourism’s economic impact.
A Positive Year With New Challenges
The growth recorded in 2026 follows several years of recovery for international tourism.
Costa Rica’s tourism sector is now moving beyond recovery and into a period where managing continued growth becomes increasingly important.
More visitors can bring greater economic opportunities for hotels, restaurants, guides, transportation companies, local businesses and communities.
But higher visitor numbers can also place additional pressure on roads, airports, water systems, waste management, beaches, protected areas and other infrastructure.
The challenge will be to ensure that tourism growth does not undermine the natural resources that make the country attractive to visitors in the first place.
Growing Without Losing the Natural Appeal
A large part of Costa Rica’s international tourism identity is built around biodiversity and access to natural environments.
This is one of the country’s greatest competitive advantages, but it also creates a responsibility to protect those resources.
Tourism growth needs to be accompanied by effective planning, responsible waste management, protection of ecosystems, appropriate management of highly visited destinations and greater distribution of tourism benefits among local communities.
For smaller tourism businesses, continued growth can also create opportunities to develop more specialized experiences, including birdwatching, rural tourism, local gastronomy, adventure activities, wellness and nature-based experiences.
More Visitors Mean New Opportunities
The two-million-visitor milestone is a positive signal for the tourism sector, but it also shows how Costa Rica’s tourism landscape is evolving.
The strong performance of Guanacaste Airport, the continued importance of North American markets and the expansion of international air connectivity are among the trends shaping tourism in 2026.
For tourism businesses, the challenge will be to capture this growing demand while maintaining the quality of the visitor experience.
For communities, the opportunity lies in ensuring that an increasing share of tourism spending reaches local businesses and contributes to territorial development.
For the country as a whole, the challenge will be maintaining a balance between growth and conservation.
A Figure That Helps Define Tourism in 2026
The 2,001,660 international tourist arrivals recorded between January and July represent more than a symbolic milestone.
They reflect a tourism sector that continues to grow, expanding international connectivity and gradual changes in the markets and entry points driving visitor arrivals.
Guanacaste is gaining importance, while Juan Santamaría remains the country’s leading gateway. The United States continues to dominate the market, while Canada, Europe and other regions are contributing significantly to overall growth.
The coming months will show whether this trend continues and whether Costa Rica can turn increased visitor numbers into greater economic benefits for local communities while protecting the natural resources that have made the country an internationally recognized destination.
Official Sources for Further Information
The international arrival figures used in this article come from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), using information supplied by the General Directorate of Migration and Immigration. The ICT publishes monthly, semiannual and annual tourism statistics and provides downloadable data series.
Official tourism statistics from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute
The ICT’s 2026 international arrivals report provides the monthly figures and detailed information by country of origin and region.
ICT international arrivals statistics
The ICT also publishes information on international air connectivity, including airlines, routes and scheduled services.
