Costa Rica recorded 183,016 people in direct tourism-associated employment in 2024, according to INEC’s annual employment series. The broader direct-plus-indirect measure reached 549,048 people. These figures describe tourism-associated activities rather than a separately identified ecotourism industry, so they provide a broad labor-market context for Costa Rica’s nature, outdoor and ecotourism economy.
Contents
- Employment totals and the ecotourism context
- Which tourism-associated activities employ people
- Gender and urban-rural distribution
- The age profile of workers
- Employment by enterprise size
- Accommodation and food-service labor demand
Employment totals and the ecotourism context
The official series measures employment in activities associated with tourism, including accommodation, food service, transport, agencies and vehicle rental, and cultural, sports and recreational activities. It does not isolate ecotourism as its own statistical industry. For that reason, the numbers below should be read as a tourism-employment proxy relevant to ecotourism, not as a count of people working exclusively in conservation travel, nature guiding or outdoor tourism.
INEC’s Encuesta Continua de Empleo reports annual averages. Direct tourism-associated employment was 126,231 people in 2010. It rose to 170,870 in 2019, then stood at 127,570 in 2020. By 2024, the direct total was 183,016 people. The 2020 figure is therefore materially lower than both the 2019 and 2024 observations, while the 2024 count is the highest of the four supplied years.
The series also reports a wider direct-plus-indirect measure. Costa Rica recorded 378,692 people in direct plus indirect tourism employment in 2010, 512,609 in 2019, 382,710 in 2020 and 549,048 in 2024. Direct and direct-plus-indirect employment are distinct measures and should not be combined.
| Measurement | 2010 | 2019 | 2020 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct tourism-associated employment | 126,231 | 170,870 | 127,570 | 183,016 |
| Direct plus indirect tourism employment | 378,692 | 512,609 | 382,710 | 549,048 |
Source: INEC Empleo 2010 2024. The periods shown are annual observations from the 2010–2024 employment series.
Which tourism-associated activities employ people
The 2024 activity breakdown shows the largest supplied employment count in food-service activities, followed by accommodation, tourism-associated transport, and cultural, sports and recreational activities. Food service employed 107,073 people. Accommodation employed 33,861, transport employed 27,829, and cultural, sports and recreational activities employed 14,253.
These categories are useful for understanding the labor footprint surrounding outdoor travel. Accommodation can include lodging close to parks, beaches or rural destinations, while transport and recreational activities can connect visitors with outdoor experiences. However, the supplied series does not identify which individual establishments or workers serve ecotourism specifically.
The 2020 activity counts provide a comparison point for the same four categories. Accommodation employed 17,939 people, food-service activities employed 89,449, tourism-associated transport employed 12,809, and cultural, sports and recreational activities employed 7,374.
| Tourism-associated activity | 2020 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation | 17,939 | 33,861 |
| Food-service activities | 89,449 | 107,073 |
| Tourism-associated transport | 12,809 | 27,829 |
| Cultural, sports and recreational activities | 7,374 | 14,253 |
Source: INEC Empleo 2010 2024. The table compares counts reported for 2020 and 2024; it does not represent a separate ecotourism classification.
Gender and urban-rural distribution
In 2024, women accounted for 96,783 tourism-associated workers and men accounted for 86,233. The supplied totals therefore show substantial employment for both groups, with the women’s count higher in that year. In 2020, women accounted for 73,152 workers and men accounted for 54,418.
The geography breakdown distinguishes urban and rural areas. Urban areas accounted for 139,420 tourism-associated workers in 2024, while rural areas accounted for 43,596. In 2020, the corresponding counts were 97,522 urban workers and 30,049 rural workers.
These are distributions of tourism-associated workers, not measures of the quality, permanence or ecotourism specialization of jobs. They also do not establish why the counts differ between urban and rural areas. They do show that the official employment series includes workers in both settings, which matters for a country where outdoor travel may connect urban service centers with rural destinations.
Source: INEC Empleo 2010 2024. Gender and urban-rural figures refer to the stated years, 2020 and 2024.
The age profile of workers
INEC’s 2024 age profile includes five groups. Workers aged 15–24 numbered 28,934. The 25–34 group numbered 45,725, while workers aged 35–44 numbered 44,920. The 45–59 group numbered 47,148, and workers aged 60 and older numbered 16,195.
The largest supplied 2024 age group was 45–59, followed closely by 25–34 and 35–44. The 15–24 group was smaller than each of those three groups, while the 60-and-older group was the smallest listed group. The figures describe the age distribution of tourism-associated employment; they do not indicate seniority, occupation, training or whether a worker serves ecotourism visitors.
For comparison, the 2020 counts were 15,849 workers aged 15–24; 28,827 aged 25–34; 38,473 aged 35–44; 31,709 aged 45–59; and 12,564 aged 60 and older. The 2020 and 2024 figures use the same age bands supplied by the employment series, making them suitable for a direct count comparison by group.
| Age group | 2020 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| 15–24 | 15,849 | 28,934 |
| 25–34 | 28,827 | 45,725 |
| 35–44 | 38,473 | 44,920 |
| 45–59 | 31,709 | 47,148 |
| 60 and older | 12,564 | 16,195 |
Source: INEC Empleo 2010 2024.
Employment by enterprise size
The 2024 enterprise-size breakdown places 73,149 tourism-associated workers in enterprises with 1–3 people. Enterprises with 4–9 people accounted for 35,346 workers, those with 10–29 people accounted for 40,003, and enterprises with 30 or more people accounted for 33,742.
The same categories in 2020 were 59,668 workers in enterprises with 1–3 people, 34,730 in enterprises with 4–9 people, 15,073 in enterprises with 10–29 people, and 17,502 in enterprises with 30 or more people. The series thus records employment across very small, small, medium-sized and larger enterprise categories, without identifying which businesses are ecotourism operators.
| Enterprise size | 2020 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| 1–3 people | 59,668 | 73,149 |
| 4–9 people | 34,730 | 35,346 |
| 10–29 people | 15,073 | 40,003 |
| 30 or more people | 17,502 | 33,742 |
Source: INEC Empleo 2010 2024. Enterprise-size counts are tourism-associated employment counts for the stated years.
Accommodation and food-service labor demand
INEC’s 2025 Encuesta Nacional de Demanda Laboral for services establishments offers a more current view of business characteristics in accommodation and food services. It counted 4,046 accommodation and food-service establishments, equal to 29.8% of surveyed services establishments. This is an establishment count, not a count of individual workers or ecotourism jobs.
The survey found that 84.5% of accommodation and food-service establishments reported between one and five job positions. In the same 2025 survey, 13.4% belonged to a business chamber or association, and 13.4% subcontracted personnel. A much larger 73.4% contracted professional services. These measures describe establishments and their practices, not the number of people hired through each arrangement.
Work-based access was also measured. In 2025, 39.8% of accommodation and food-service establishments received students for internships or professional practice. The share employing people with functional difficulties or disabilities was 5.1%. Telework applied in at least one position at 1.7% of establishments.
The survey also recorded business technology use. Electronic media were used to buy inputs by 58.3% of accommodation and food-service establishments and to sell products or services by 78.1%. Electronic payment methods were used by 98.6%. These indicators describe the surveyed sector’s operating practices during 2025; they do not measure visitor numbers, conservation outcomes or the share of activity attributable to ecotourism.
Source: Encuesta Nacional de Demanda Laboral, Sector de Servicios. The 2025 percentages refer to accommodation and food-service establishments, while the 4,046 figure is the survey’s establishment count.