Costa Rica Has New Terminal at Daniel Oduber Airport

San Jose (Costa Rica) – January 20, 2012 – The new terminal at Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Costa Rica has officially begun operations on January 12, 2012, according to an announcement by the Costa Rica Tourism Board, Costa Rica’s Ministry of Public Works, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation and the country’s vice president. The terminal has the capacity to service 1,500 passengers per hour and will feature 28 check-in counters, art and souvenir shops, restaurants, car rental counters, a VIP lounge, currency exchange counters and a convenience store, among other offerings. Tourism officials are confident that the new terminal will not only improve travel conditions and services, both for tourists and airline carriers that have chosen to fly into Costa Rica, but will encourage airlines to continue investing in the country.

“The construction of this new terminal will certainly boost national tourism development in Costa Rica, increasing the frequency of flights and attracting new airlines to the country, ensuring the competitiveness of the destination and its sustainability over time,” commented Minister of Tourism Allan Flores.

In November 2011, Daniel Oduber International Airport showed a considerable increase in arriving passengers over the same period last year, from 27,291 in November 2010 to 35,140 in November 2011, an increase of close to 29 percent. Several airlines, such as JetBlue and Frontier Airlines, have already invested in the terminal by offering new flight routes into Liberia. On November 17, 2011, JetBlue began offering four non-stop weekly flights from New York’s JFK Airport into Daniel Oduber, while Frontier Airlines began servicing Liberia on January 30, 2011 From Denver. Currently, numerous airlines fly into Liberia from major North American markets, including New York, Chicago, Toronto, Atlanta, Houston, Montreal, Dallas, Denver, Miami and Charlotte. With the opening of the new terminal, the Costa Rica Tourism Board hopes to increase the number of airlines and flights traveling into the country.

From January to November 2011, Daniel Oduber International Airport recorded an estimated arrival of 229,045 travelers, a 15.4 percent increase compared with the same period last year. The airport is one of the major points of entry for visitors traveling into Costa Rica, serving as a gateway to Guanacaste and the surrounding areas of Monteverde, La Fortuna, Tortugero and the Central Pacific. Named after the national tree of Costa Rica, Guanacaste is one of the country’s most popular vacation and ecotourism destinations thanks to nearly a dozen well-known biological reserves, national parks and wildlife refuges. Known as a haven for nature lovers and outdoor adventurers alike, stunning Pacific coastlines are plentiful in this northwestern province, as are the seemingly endless hours of summer sunlight.

About Costa Rica
Nestled between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, Costa Rica is located in Central America between Nicaragua and Panama. The country represents only .05 percent of the planet’s surface but shelters almost 5 percent of the world’s biodiversity and 3.5 percent of the world’s marine life. Costa Rica is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, four types of forest, 12 microclimates and more than 500 species of flora and fauna, with more than 26 percent of its territory comprising national parks and other protected areas, making the country one of the most popular sustainable tourism destinations in the world.

Some of Costa Rica’s most notable recognitions include: TripAdvisor 2011 Travelers’ Choice Beaches Award for top beach in Central and South America; the Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Award 2010 for best resort in the Americas and best hotel in Central America; Travel Weekly Readers’ Choice Award 2010 for the seventh consecutive year for best destination in the Americas; and Apple Vacations 2011 Crystal Apple Award for Best Destination.

About the Costa Rica Tourism Board
The Costa Rica Tourism Board (www.VisitCostaRica.com), created in 1955, is responsible for promoting tourism attractions and destinations nationally and internationally; establishing tourism norms, regulations and incentives; and certifying Costa Rica’s hotels, travel agencies, rental cars and other tourism service providers under its world-renowned Certification of Sustainable Tourism program.

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