1. Houston is one of the cities that concentrates thousands of potential tourists or travelers with a high interest in traveling to Costa Rica on their next vacation.
2. In 2023, 1,431,644 tourists visited us from the United States.

Starting March 6, the low-cost airline Spirit Airlines will offer a daily direct flight between Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston (IAH), Texas, in the United States, strengthening air connectivity with our main source market for travelers to Costa Rica.

This route will depart at 2:40 p.m. (Houston time) and arrive in our country at 5:35 p.m. (local time).

Houston is one of ten U.S. cities that host  the "best prospects" or potential tourists from the United States who express a lot of extreme interest in visiting Costa Rica on their next vacation

According to the most recent studies by the ICT, it is estimated that the state of Texas is home to more than 2 million travelers interested in visiting our country

William Rodríguez, Minister of Tourism, welcomed the news. "From the Costa Rican Tourism Board we are deeply happy for the announcement of these new flights of the Spirit airline, which will bring benefits and quality of life for many Costa Ricans. It is a commitment of the institución mantener negociaciones permanent agreements with airlines to increase frequencies and establish direct connections to the cities of the United States that host the largest number of potential tourists and with high interest in traveling to Costa Rica," said the official.

"Our San Jose Guests have embraced our low fares and convenient service for their travels, and we are excited to provide Costa Rican travelers with an affordable way to visit Houston. We thank our partners at Santamaria International Airport for supporting our growth as we add this third, nonstop route," said John Kirby, Vice President of Route Planning at Spirit Airlines.

Kirby further expressed that "San Jose is the portal to all the beautiful places to visit in Costa Rica, and this new route will open up new travel opportunities for guests in the U.S. to enjoy Pura Vida."

"From AERIS, we are pleased to provide a new option to tourists from the United States in the midst of the high season. We are committed to continuing to promote pura vida experiences for passengers and, therefore, we are aware that it is vital to add connections. This flight is also the result of good management between the public and private sectors," said Erick Barboza, Director of Business Development at AERIS, the interested manager of the Juan Santamaría International Airport.

As part of the celebration of the establishment of this new air frequency, Spirit will offer one-way fares starting at US$131, between March 6, 2024 and May 22, 2024, subject to availability.

Tickets are now available on the https://www.spirit.com/ systems and website.

In addition to this route, Spirit will fly twice daily between San Jose and the cities of Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, Florida.

U.S. market consolidates

Other characteristics of potential tourists from the United States is the importance for them to travel to live new experiences for well-being and personal growth, they have traveled a lot, have a high level of education, are comparatively prosperous, are increasingly younger and like to travel with their children, according to the "Study of the Best Prospects - Market in the United States".  carried out in 2021 by the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT).

During 2023, 1,431,644 tourists visited us by air from the United States, remaining our main source market for travelers.