Guanacaste is the most prosperous region outside the central region

The latest calculation of the GDP of the states (as of 2021) shows that the region contributed £2.36 trillion (million) to the national production, distributed as £2,190,288 million of value added, which is the added value generated in the process of producing goods and services, and £167,347 million in taxes.

Although the Chorotega region includes all of the state of Guanacaste, as well as a district in the states of Alajuela and Puntarenas, it is worth noting that the Nicoya Party celebrated its bicentenary on July 25 this year. Incorporated in Costa Rica only Nicoya, Santa Cruz and later the Liberian territory.

After this clarification, the main economic activities in the region vary from state to state. Overall, the province’s leading sectors that year were food and beverages; electricity, water and waste management; education and tourism. Liberia, Santa Cruz, Carrillo and Nicoya generated 70% of Guanacaste’s GDP.

been: Nicoya Party is not the Guanacaste we know today, this is how the territorial divisions changed

Researcher and economist Melizandro Quirós stressed that the 2021 data reflect the impact of the covid-19 health crisis on specific sectors. The worst affected were tourism and real estate activities.

That year, Guanacaste led in food and beverage production, with 344.55 billion pounds, equivalent to 15.73% of the added value. This activity includes the production of canned fruit, beans and vegetables, dairy products, sugar and rice, among others. Companies such as Arrocera Liborio, Arrocera San Pedro Lagunilla and Coca-Cola have factories in the region. Factories such as El Viejo and Taboga are also there.

The power, water and waste management sector comes second. This mainly includes the supply of electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning, as well as drinking water and wastewater treatment. Guanacaste has more than 15 energy plants, whether solar, hydroelectric or wind. These include the Miravalles power plant, the Río Naranjo wind farm in Bagaces and the Huacas solar park. In addition, in 2022, the Cañas-Bebedero water treatment plant was inaugurated with an investment of 9.815 billion pounds.

In third place are educational services. Guanacaste is home to various higher education centers. The University of Costa Rica (UCR) is headquartered in Liberia and Santa Cruz; in Liberia and Nicoya, the National University (UNA) and in Liberia and Cañas, the National Technical University (UTN). Other private universities, such as the Latin University, the University of San Marcos and the Autonomous University of Central America, are located in Cañas, Liberia, Santa Cruz and Nicoya, respectively.

Andrés Fernández, economist and researcher at the Competitiveness Promotion Council (CPC), stressed that Guanacaste is in the middle of the seven provinces in terms of competitiveness (fourth place), adding that its main strengths are security, general public services, educational coverage and the quality of the mobile Internet network.

However, he mentioned that the province still faces challenges such as improving investment facilities in local government, road and bridge infrastructure and the quality of human capital as less than 27% of adults over 25 years of age across all states have completed secondary education.

Tourism recovery

In 2021, revenues from accommodation and food services amounted to 176.41 billion pounds, equivalent to 8% of Guanacaste’s GDP. These figures have been affected by the pandemic, which has restricted the mobility of tourists and led to limited access to beaches or shops.

Rodolfo Lizano, director of tourism planning and development at the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), agreed with Queiroz and clarified that the 2021 figures are well below Costa Rica’s pre-pandemic rates.

Lizano indicated that the importance of the province in the national tourism sector has remained stable over the years, explaining that, of the total number of vacationers arriving in Costa Rica, between 38% and 40% visit Guanacaste during their stay, according to surveys for travelers. This percentage has remained the same since 2017.

Carolina Trejos, ICT’s marketing director, ruled out the possibility that the agency would bet on a specific niche market. However, he explained that the luxury market in Guanacaste has increased due to the type of tourists, who are mainly North Americans and Europeans with high purchasing power and seeking sun and beaches.

been: Air travel to Costa Rica up 14% in first half of year

He stressed that this is due to the development of infrastructure in the Guanacaste province, such as Daniel Oduber International Airport yes Hotel Complex The region is more attractive compared to other competing markets.

In 2023, Guanacaste Airport broke records for tourists, surpassing both pre-pandemic and 2022 figures. That year, 769,723 tourists entered through the terminal, surpassing the 661,579 in 2022. In 2019, the figure was 599,433. In the first half of 2024 alone, Daniel Oduber has already received 537,823 holidaymakers.

Real estate industry bidding

Melizandro Quirós, executive director of the Center for Business Research in Finance and Real Estate (Cenfi), stressed that Guanacaste is experiencing a Prosperity Real estate. By 2023, the province will have a built-up area of ​​561,598 square meters, accounting for 21% of the country’s total construction area, with a total construction area of ​​2,557,628 square meters. According to him, the region’s real estate growth has accelerated due to the growing interest in tourism infrastructure such as hotels and short-term rental homes (Airbnb).

been: Construction of luxury homes along the coast booms on demand from foreigners

“Development is happening along the coast, but not so much in the central area. There is inequality in real estate development in Guanacaste,” Queiroz said.

In 2023, the province reported 4,226 housing projects, of which Santa Cruz concentrated 35%, with about 1,458 projects. Nicoya and Carrillo continue to dominate, respectively, with 19.3% and 14.9%. Quirós explains that there is also a large number of houses with an area of ​​more than 200 square meters, due to the greater purchasing power in the region. Almost one in five houses is of this size (19%).