The international chain began to operate in the Santa Ana district of the country's capital a hotel that has 143 rooms and halls for social events.
The new Hilton Garden Inn Santa Ana, will focus on attracting clients from the international and local corporate sector, since the meeting rooms are equipped with the most advanced technology to hold meetings, trainings, seminars, among other activities.
Due to Costa Rica's estimated average hotel occupancy rate of 52% by 2020, well below the 95% recorded at the end of 2019, businessmen in the sector expect that in this context of crisis there will be no peak seasons next year.
The tourism sector is one of the hardest hit by the economic crisis generated by the outbreak of covid-19, because mobility restrictions, the closure of air terminals and the fear of tourists to be infected, have influenced the drastic fall in tourism activity.
Following the reactivation of air transportation and the easing of restrictions on foreign visitors, the Marriott chain announced the reopening of four hotels operating in the country and the Four Seasons will also reopen its resort in Guanacaste.
The year 2020 has been a complex one for the tourism sector in general, since due to the outbreak of covid-19 since March the hotels began a period in which they did not receive income.
Arguing that they will be able to maintain social distance in the common areas, the hotel guild in Costa Rica is asking the government to authorize them to operate at 100% of their capacity, and not at 50% as they are currently allowed.
According to the Costa Rican Chamber of Hotels (CCH) the total use of hotel rooms does not represent a disadvantage since these spaces are used in family, social bubbles or individually.
Because of the restriction measures decreed in the country due to the covid-19 outbreak, between March and April of this year the average hotel rate for two people decreased from $160 to $120.
According to the "Monetary Policy Report" prepared by the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR), in the face of the health crisis, hotel occupancy in the country has plummeted in the first four months of the year, from 90% in January to 15% in April.
Adapting spaces in the restaurant area, selling themselves to tourists as a clean and safe establishment, are some of the strategies that hotel sector businessmen plan to apply in order to adjust to the new commercial reality resulting from the health emergency.
The spread of covid-19 has forced health authorities to restrict the mobility of people and to close several establishments, with hotels being one of the most affected.
In the last decade, the number of hotel rooms in Costa Rica has increased at a 4% average annual rate, and in 2018 Guanacaste was the area that concentrated a quarter of the hotel offer, monopolizing about 26% of the total.
Figures from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) detail that between 2008 and 2018 the number of rooms dedicated to lodging increased by 15,474, from 41,759 to 57,233.
With the legal framework approved in Costa Rica, which regulates the provision of tourist rental services in housing through digital platforms, Airbnb executives anticipate a considerable drop in the number of hosts in the country.
On September 5, the Legislative Assembly reported that file 20865, the framework law for the regulation of non-traditional hosting and its intermediation through digital platforms, was approved for the second debate.
In Costa Rica, the bill to regulate the provision of tourist rental services in housing through digital platforms, which includes a 13% tax and would require suppliers to register, which would make this accommodation option more expensive.
The deputies approved in their first debate, file No. 20,865 Framework Law for the regulation of non-traditional hosting and its intermediation through digital platforms, reported the Assembly on August 28.
The W Costa Rica hotel, which will offer a total of 151 rooms and is located in Guanacaste, reported that it plans to start operations in November of this year.
The hoteliers union of Costa Rica reported that the occupancy level in the mid-year holidays of 2018 is 65%, 3% less than the average figure reported in the same period in 2017.
According to a survey carried out on June 29 by the Costa Rican Chamber of Hotels (CCH), in which 80 accommodation centers were consulted, between the mid-year vacations of 2017 and this year, the average occupancy rate fell from 68% to 65%.
In Costa Rica, hotels and companies in the sector are preparing themselves with expansions and new services in order to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the new convention center.
The recent inauguration of the new convention center, with 16 thousand square meters and capacity to hold up to 5,600 people at the same time, promises to boost the country's hotel activity, particularly in the Greater Metropolitan Area.
The Canadian group Sunwing Travel has announced that in the second half of this year it will open a luxury hotel under the brand Planet Hollywood.
From a statement issued by Sunwing Travel Group:
February 23rd 2018. Sunwing Travel Group, North America’s largest vertically integrated travel company, has signed a deal with iconic lifestyle brand Planet Hollywood to dramatically increase the footprint of Planet Hollywood’s hotel operations globally.
In a transaction whose amount was not disclosed, the US-based Gencom acquired the hotel complex Andaz Costa Rica Resort in Península Papagayo in Guanacaste.
Hotel entrepreneurs in Costa Rica attribute the decline in occupancy rates to a lesser flow of US tourists visiting the country, which in the first half fell by 2%.
According to the results of an occupancy survey carried out by the Costa Rican Chamber of Hotels among its affiliates, hotel occupancy fell by 5% in June compared to the same month in 2016, and projections for the coming months are not very flattering.