British travelers have placed Costa Rica at the top of two major travel categories, naming it their favorite destination for both adventure and responsible travel in the 2026 National Geographic Traveller (UK) Reader Awards. Costa Rica also finished second among the world’s best wildlife destinations, behind South Africa and ahead of Kenya. The results were published yesterday and appear in the magazine’s November 2026 issue.
The strongest result came in responsible travel, where Costa Rica received four-and-a-half times as many votes as second-place Norway. Sweden finished third. National Geographic Traveller pointed to Costa Rica’s long conservation record, including the protection of roughly a quarter of its territory. Costa Rica’s National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) also says about 25% falls under some form of protection.
The magazine cited the United Nations Development Programme’s description of Costa Rica as a place that “wrote the playbook on ecotourism.” It also highlighted more than 400 hotels and tour operators that it said have sustainability approval through standards associated with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.
Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsula received particular attention. National Geographic Traveller described the park as home to 2.5% of the world’s terrestrial species and praised its approach to wildlife guiding and ranger protection. The recognition comes during a year in which Corcovado has also faced some real conservation challenges. A shortage of park rangers has stretched protection efforts, while problems with the wastewater treatment system at Sirena Biological Station forced authorities to reduce visitor capacity earlier this year.
In September, SINAC restored Sirena’s maximum capacity to 366 people per day after work to address sanitary requirements. Travelers heading to Corcovado this month should note that Sirena, El Tigre and Los Patos are closed to tourists during October for regular maintenance and the period of heaviest rainfall. San Pedrillo and La Leona remain open.
Costa Rica’s second first-place finish came in the adventure category, where National Geographic Traveller highlighted the unusual amount of outdoor variety packed into a country of about 51,100 square kilometers, or 19,700 square miles. The editors pointed to cloud forests, volcanoes, wild rivers and surf beaches as reasons Costa Rica remains attractive to travelers looking for active vacations. New Zealand finished a close second in the category, followed by Iceland.
The results are particularly valuable for Costa Rica because they came directly from readers in the United Kingdom, one of the country’s most important European tourism markets. Between January and August 2026, 47,753 visitors from the United Kingdom arrived in Costa Rica by air, according to Costa Rican Tourism Board figures. Britain ranked third among European source markets during that period, behind Germany and France.
Getting to Costa Rica from Britain is also about to become easier. British Airways is moving its San José service from London Gatwick to Heathrow later this month and expanding the route into a year-round operation. The airline will fly five times a week between Heathrow and Juan Santamaría International Airport from the end of October through March, followed by three weekly flights during the European summer season.
The flights will use a 204-seat Boeing 787-8. Moving the route to Heathrow also gives passengers access to British Airways’ much larger connecting network through its main London hub. The awards arrive as Costa Rica continues a broader effort to attract more European travelers. Earlier this year, the Tourism Board launched a campaign aimed at six priority European markets, including the United Kingdom, built around the country’s nature, local culture, wellness and outdoor experiences.
World Travel Market London, one of Europe’s largest tourism trade events, takes place November 3-5. For Costa Rica, the National Geographic Traveller results reinforce the two parts of its tourism image it has spent decades building: access to nature and the chance to experience it through hiking, surfing, rafting, wildlife watching and other outdoor activities.
This time, British travelers appear to be buying into both.
