by Jen Mallia
Last updated: 10:35 AM ET, Fri August 28, 2026
Canadian visitation to Costa Rica is rising as travellers take advantage of a growing number of direct flights to the sunny Central American destination. The charms of pura vida and the ease of travel are contributing to make Canada Costa Rica’s fastest growing tourism market.
More Canadians are visiting Costa Rica than ever before, reports the Tico Times, with the gap between Canada and every other market widening fast.
The Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT) published tourism statistics which show that from January through July, arrivals from Canada increased 25.1 percent compared with the same seven months of 2025. That growth was unmatched by every other country. For comparison, the second-most growth was seen from the Netherlands (16.5 percent), followed by Spain, at 13.9 percent growth over last year. While not rising as steeply as these markets, U.S. visitors made up about 57 percent of Costa Rica’s tourists.
Numbers from Statistics Canada back this up. The National Traveller Survey listed Costa Rica as the third-most visited non-U.S. country, with 193,000 Canadians travelling to the small nation in the first quarter of 2026, behind only Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Costa Rica has been marketing to Canadians with a targeted advertising campaign, and its tourism institute is claiming the growth from our country as a win.
Most Canadians who visit Costa Rica arrive at Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia (LIR) for stays in Guanacaste and along the northern Pacific coast, reports the Tico Times. The newspaper posits that increased traffic to Juan Santamaría airport in San Jose (SJO) would help alleviate pressure on the narrow set of hotels, beaches and roads in the areas currently favoured by Canadians.
As Costa Rica readies itself for the winter peak season starting in November, it is expecting the growth to continue and welcome more Canadians than ever.
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