Less than a week before we fly out to Costa Rica, the country has implemented a lockdown of non-essential businesses in the central valley (the area around the capital city of San Jose) due to a rise in COVID-19 cases.
Luckily for us, none of our destinations have been affected and are not labeled as areas with rising cases, though the concern is obviously present.
This is definitely coming with great disappointment to the country’s Ministry of Tourism, which has been counting on a rebound in foreign visitors during 2021. Quite the opposite has occurred, with numbers a fraction of what they were last year which was a fraction of the year before.
To combat that, the government has exempted tourist-friendly entities like hotels from its lockdowns in an effort to encourage visitors, citing a warming statistic – in the first four months of the year, less than 1% of foreign visitors tested positive when they were leaving the country. Additionally, they are promoting the country’s eco-tourism sector which encourages social distancing.
We’ll be doubling down on our efforts to remain safe, but look forward to a little R&R nonetheless.
Kelton Goes 