The economic slowdown in the United States and the rise in oil prices has not discouraged American tourists from going to Costa Rica.

From January to May nearly a million foreign tourists visited Costa Rica, and about half as many as visited in all of 2007.

More than half of the visitors were from the United States and 17 percent from Europe.

On the other hand the past year 1.8 million people visited Costa Rica 1.8 million people. The goal to 2012 is to reach 2.3 million.

Gonzalo Vargas, president of the Camara Nacional de Turismo (Canatur), thought that the growth of the tourism has been favored because the country penetrated in new niches like medical, rural tourism and the accomplishment of more congresses and convenciones.