More than two million tourists by July 2026: Is growth translating into hotel profitability?
Managing Partner - EAS LATAM
Data published by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) with cumulative figures through July show a highly dynamic outlook for the sector: Costa Rica received 2,001,660 international tourists by all means, representing an increase of 6.4% compared to the same period in 2015. When analyzing only arrivals by air, the figure rises to 1,853,430 visitors, registering a growth of 7.0%.
It's a positive sign for tourism, but it doesn't, on its own, constitute a measure of hotel performance. The statistics count international visitors who stay overnight in the country and exclude, among other groups, residents and cruise ship passengers. They don't indicate how many nights they booked in hotels, their rates, the booking channels they used, or their profit margin.
Positive, but not uniform, growth
The overall national figure is positive, although the monthly rate slowed after the first quarter. Arrivals by all modes of transport grew 12.9% year-on-year in March, 1.3% in April, 3.5% in May, decreased 0.8% in June, and then increased again by 2.3% in July. Therefore, the 6.4% year-to-date figure should be interpreted in conjunction with the most recent trends and not as an identical expansion throughout the entire year.
Source: Prepared by the author using official data from the ICT and the General Directorate of Migration and Foreign Affairs. Variations are rounded to one decimal place.
The regional difference is significant. Guanacaste Airport saw an approximate growth of 13.3%, while Juan Santamaría Airport experienced an increase of around 3.6%. This doesn't automatically demonstrate that all hotels in Guanacaste grew at the same rate, but it does confirm that demand is not evenly distributed.
Costa Rica versus Latin America: volume and income are not the same
For country comparisons, 2024 is used, the last year with complete and consistent figures by destination in the most recent edition of UN Tourism's International Tourism Highlights. The January-July 2026 data is retained to describe the situation in Costa Rica, but it is not combined with monthly statistics from other countries because their publication schedules and definitions are not uniform.
Chart 1. Total revenue from international tourism in ten selected Latin American destinations.
Source: Prepared by the author using data from UN Tourism, International Tourism Highlights, 2025 Edition. Current US$; 2024 data provisional.
The regional ranking is best understood when looking at the dollar figures. In 2024, Mexico led with US$32.956 billion, followed by the Dominican Republic with US$10.972 billion and Colombia with US$8.699 billion. Costa Rica generated US$5.453 billion and ranked sixth among the ten selected destinations.
Chart 2. International arrivals in ten selected Latin American destinations, with 2019 as the pre-pandemic reference.
Source: Prepared by the author using data from UN Tourism, International Tourism Highlights, 2025 Edition. 2024 data provisional.
More tourists does not automatically mean more profit
Between the arrival of tourists to a country and the financial result of a hotel, multiple decisions by the visitor come into play, such as the type of accommodation chosen, the duration of their stay, the consumption of complementary services and the channel used to book.
For this reason, national market figures serve only as a benchmark for overall demand. To measure true success profitably, each property must evaluate its occupancy, rate, and profit metrics against its own budgets, past performance, and installed capacity, supporting this opportunity with a sound business strategy and operational controls.
Four indicators to translate demand into results
To link tourist activity with the hotel's financial reality, the use of the USALI standard ( Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry ) stands out, a recommended structure for analyzing operations by department and capacity:
Occupancy: percentage of available rooms that were sold.
ADR: Average Daily Rate earned from rooms sold.
RevPAR: revenue per available room; combines occupancy and rate.
GOPPAR: Gross operating profit per available room; incorporates the effect of operating costs.
If arrivals are increasing, but hotel occupancy isn't, it's worth reviewing your target market, distribution, and positioning. If occupancy and RevPAR are rising, but GOPPAR remains the same or decreases, the additional demand may be being absorbed by commissions, payroll, laundry, food, energy, or other costs. It's important to know where Does your hotel really know where it makes and where it loses money?
What hotels should review at the end of the month
The August report provides a good point of comparison for the 2026 budget and year-end projections. However, the review needs to move beyond national data to reflect the realities of the property. At a minimum, management should analyze:
Results against budget and prior year: occupancy, ADR, RevPAR, total revenue and GOPPAR.
Channel mix: direct sales, platforms, wholesalers, groups and corporate, including their commissions.
Profitability by department: rooms, food and beverages, spa, events and other services.
Costs per occupied room: payroll, amenities, laundry, energy, maintenance and cleaning.
Quality of stay: average duration, additional spending per guest and repeat customers.
Cash flow and currency: separating operating performance from exchange rate effects and collection conditions.
In properties with income primarily in dollars and significant costs in colones, this latter separation is especially useful, as well as differentiating which currency is functional in dollars. To compare the current context with the previous evolution, it is important to take into account the perspective on tourism and air connectivity in Costa Rica .
In conclusion
The update published by the ICT (Costa Rican Tourism Institute) offers a positive sign: Costa Rica surpassed two million tourists in July, air arrivals grew by 7.0%, and Guanacaste showed above-average growth. It also reveals that growth has moderated in recent months and that its regional distribution is uneven.
The Latin American comparison adds another dimension: Costa Rica doesn't compete in terms of volume with Mexico or the Dominican Republic, but its revenue per visitor is relatively high. For a hotel, the right question remains how much of that demand it managed to capture, at what rate, through which channel, and with what margin. When the country's statistics are linked to occupancy, RevPAR, GOPPAR, costs, and cash flow, tourism growth ceases to be merely news and becomes information for decision-making.
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