As of right now there is a 3% hotel tax that each tourist must pay, but recently there has been a shift from the traditional hotel vacation to condos, houses, and apartments that do not have such a tax.  Carlos Ricardo Benavides sees this as an opportunity to implement a new tax.  He is proposing that all visitors entering the country pay a $15 flat tax and dump the 3% hotel tax. 

Everyone that is not a resident of Costa Rica would have to pay the entrance fee including the perpetual tourist.  There have been an estimates 1.7 million visitors every year which would bring in around $25.5 million. 

The money raised from the new tax would be put towards promoting the country and implementing sustainable tourism in the Instituto Costarriicense de Turismo.   The institute has been hard at work promoting the country.  For example it has invested $4.2 million in a promotional campaign during the World Soccer cup in Germany and last month it spent close to $400,000 for a radio, print, and TV campaign that would boost tourism in the low season.  

This is not official yet and is not even posted on the assembly website, so do not worry for now, but in the near future visitors may need to spend some money before even leaving the airport. 

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Filed under: Costa Rica News on September 20th, 2007