Costa Rica's Tourism Board (ICT) has just released its year end tourism statistics. Here are some of the highlights:
1. Crime against tourists dropped 26%
2. Tourism rose by 11.5%
3. Total of 1.9 million people (tourists) visited Costa Rica
4. $1.9 Billion in Tourism Revenue, up 300 million from last year.
5. 100 New ICT Police Officers added
6. Jaco has granted $800,000 more dollars for next year to hire more police.
These are some exciting numbers, and just confirmation of what we have been saying - that tourism is continuing to grow in Costa Rica.
Even more exciting is that crime against tourists has gone down. Typically, tourists fall victim to petty theft, mostly because they aren't using common sense and they fall prey to small time thieves who target tourists. But with the addition of the new ICT police officers who work in conjunction with local police forces to keep tourists safe, these crimes have gone down. Quick justification for these new police officers.
And it appears that in response to this resounding success, the town of Jaco has set aside funds to beef up their ICT police officers, continuing their dedication to improve this great tourist town.
Costa Rica's strong tourism industry has been a major factor for its strong real estate market, and this past year has been no different, other than to improve in the area of safety. Costa Rica in general is a safe country to visit, but they have had issues with petty theft. With this significant improvement in lowering the crime rate towards tourists, the reasons for NOT considering Costa Rica are evaporating.
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