There are a lot of events that can impact a tourism market. Over the years, Costa Rica has seen a share of those events. 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, Zika, US storms, airlines strikes, the list goes on. The good news for Jaco is because of their proximity to San Jose and the sustainability of local tourism the Jaco area has typically been much more consistent and stable than other markets in Costa Rica. And overall Costa Rica tourism has been a strong and solid tourist market overall the past 10 years. However, a global pandemic has proven to be a different animal and is pummeling tourism worldwide like perhaps nothing we have seen before. Jaco is in for a rough ride and one of the most effected groups will be the vacation rental market.
Empty airports all over the world is not what rental managers want to see.
The Jaco market is unique in that it features a large number of vacation rentals. Naturally the owners of these properties will be impacted, but in addition there are many related businesses in Jaco that will be effected. Property managers, sales reps, cleaning services, maintenance crews, a lot of staff have already seen jobs reduced or lost. Local businesses are adjusting to tourism where borders are closed and locals are instructed to stay at home. Vacation Rental Management Company Vacasa handles over 100 properties in the Jaco area. Costa Rica Country Manager Lisle Head mentioned what adjustments they have made on their end.
“Our team are all now using gloves, masks, and alcohol and when a guest checks out we are waiting 72 hours prior to cleaning the property. “We have stopped taking any reservations for the month of April,” said Head. For now we are marketing to long term rentals to weather the storm. In Costa Rica we have been able to keep 90% of the Team but with reduced pay. The USA has furloughed more than 50%. It is all about conserving cash. We are offering future stay credits instead of refunds to guest that allow them to use the credit to stay at any other Vacasa unit within the next 18 months.”
Most business owners we talked to anticipate that international tourism could take till the high season to really pick up, but do think that local tourism could provide a bit of a lifeline once things open up within Costa Rica. Head is expecting similar thoughts with his outlook. “We are budgeting as if there will be very little reservations. We believe we will have a small spike in July. We feel December will be good but still not fully recovered. I believe we will need to go through one season before we see rentals back to normal.”
The rest of the country is echoing the same thoughts. Fortunately for Jaco, most speculate that the Central Pacific should be one of the first areas to see traffic from local tourism which should help recover quicker than some other areas.
