Canada Is Now the Fastest-Growing Source of Tourists to Costa Rica in 2026

Canada is now the fastest-growing source of tourists to Costa Rica: arrivals from Canada rose 25.1% through July 2026, outpacing every other market, according to new figures from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT).

The Canadians are coming — in record numbers. Arrivals from Canada to Costa Rica grew 25.1% through July, making Canada the country’s fastest-growing tourism market of 2026.

Record Numbers From the North

More Canadians are flying to Costa Rica this year than at any point on record, The Tico Times reported this week, citing tourism institute figures: a 25.1% increase through July, ahead of every other source market.

The surge continues a trend visible all year — Canadian arrivals had already grown 26.6% in the first four months of 2026.

Two Million Tourists and Counting

Costa Rica passed two million international arrivals by the end of July — 2,001,660 visitors, a 6.4% increase over the same period in 2025.

Air travel drives the industry: 1,853,430 arrivals came by air (up 7%), while land and water entries declined slightly.

The Guanacaste Effect

The clearest shift is geographic: Guanacaste Airport in Liberia recorded the strongest growth of any entry point, with 698,079 arrivals through July — up 13.3%.

Direct flights into Liberia eliminate the cross-country drive from San José, putting Tamarindo, Playas del Coco and the Papagayo Peninsula within a short transfer of the runway — a formula Canadian winter escapees have clearly discovered.

A Market in Transition

The United States still dominates with 57% of all arrivals — but its growth stalled at 0.4%, while Europe grew 8.4% (315,340 visitors) and Canada surged past both in momentum.

For hotels, vacation rentals and tour operators, the pattern matters: growth is now driven by Guanacaste and by the Canadian and European markets, not by the traditional U.S. pipeline.

What It Means on the Ground

Expect busier northern Pacific beaches in the coming high season, more direct Canadian flight capacity announcements, and continued investment in Guanacaste’s tourism infrastructure.

For expats and long-stay visitors, the trend also brings more Canadian-oriented services, communities and seasonal rhythms to the Nicoya Peninsula towns.

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What the Numbers Say About the Country

Tourism is not a side industry in Costa Rica. It is one of the pillars of the economy alongside medical-device manufacturing in the free trade zones and agricultural exports, and it employs a large share of the workforce on both coasts. Two million arrivals in seven months, in a country of about five million people, gives some sense of the weight.

The composition of that traffic matters more than the total. The United States supplies well over half of all visitors, so American demand effectively sets the direction; the near-flat 0.4% growth from that market is the figure the sector watches with most concern. Canadian growth of 25.1% is striking in percentage terms but comes off a much smaller base, and does not offset a stalled American market.

Behind both trends sits the exchange rate. The colón has strengthened to roughly ¢450 to the US dollar, which makes a Costa Rican holiday materially dearer for anyone paying in dollars and puts the country up against Mexico, Colombia and the Dominican Republic on price. Hotel and tour operators have said for months that the currency, not demand, is their binding constraint.

For foreign residents the tourism cycle is felt indirectly but plainly: in the price and availability of domestic flights, in how full the Guanacaste and Manuel Antonio corridors are between December and April, and in the rental market, where short-term holiday lets compete with long-term tenants in exactly the towns where foreigners most want to live.

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We track Costa Rica’s tourism data every month — the high-season outlook lands here soon.

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