December 14, 2018
Four and a half million Americans from the West Coast, hailing from the states of California, Washington, and Oregon, are interested in taking a tourist trip to our country, as determined by a 2017 study by TravelStyles LLC for the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT).
Aware of this interest in Costa Rica, the Pro Image Costa Rica Group Association, in coordination with the ICT, will embark on a tour from July 23rd to 27th in the main cities of the West Coast of the United States, where they will hold 5 educational seminars. Within the framework of these seminars, business meetings will be conducted, with the participation of a group of 16 tourism companies who will also travel with the aim of establishing contacts with agencies specialized in bringing tourism to our country. The selected cities are Los Angeles, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, San José, and Seattle.
ICT research shows that in the last five years, the number of interested individuals across the entire territory of the United States in visiting Costa Rica increased by three million every two periods; that is, in 2013 there were 17.6 million, in 2015, 20.2 million of better prospects. According to data from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), in 2017 there were 23.5 million travelers from the United States interested in visiting Costa Rica.
“This means that there is great potential for growth, but it requires focusing on geographical areas and where greater propensity or interest in traveling to Costa Rica is identified. The West Coast has 4.5 million interested individuals, that is, one-fifth of the best American prospects, which is why we are dedicating a lot of effort to this geographical area,” said Silvia Vargas, president of Pro Image Costa Rica.
The objective of these training sessions, called educational seminars, is to showcase “the tourist product that makes Costa Rica a unique and privileged destination. Faced with the global tourism offer, it is important that Costa Rica brings innovative first-hand information to these travel agents who, in turn, are the ones who will bring North American tourists to the country,” stated Vargas.
During the educational sessions, the main tourist attractions of Costa Rica will be shown, focusing on themes such as adventure tourism, nature, sustainability, wellness, sun and beach, meetings, among others. Additionally, they will highlight the economic and political stability enjoyed by the country, whose democracy is recognized worldwide as one of the most consolidated in Latin America.
The United States represents the main tourism market in the world. In 2017, there were 1,199,241 international arrivals from the United States, and tourists from the West Coast visit the country for an average of 10.7 nights, according to the ICT.
Today, tourism generates $3.6 billion annually for Costa Rica, which represents 6.4% of GDP and more than 40% of exports.
Companies traveling to the United States:
– Hertz Rent A Car
– Pachira Lodge
– Doka Estate
– Hotel San Bada
– Mistico
– Enchanting Hotels
– Tango Mar
– Hotel Flamingo Beach
– Lost Iguana
– Hotel Radisson
– Destination Service
– Sansa
– Casa Chameleon
– Sky Adventure
– Grupo Marta
– Tucanes Tours