Costa Rica Tourism Initiatives Presented at Expotur 2008

Expotur 2008, Costa Rica’s travel mart closed in the Hotel Ramada Plaza Herradura in San Jose with the participation of hundreds of national and international buyers and sellers, and media underscoring.

The tradeshow, which has been held annually for 24 years, showcased 400 service providers this year, and welcomed international buyers from Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Ecuador, Israel, Mexico, Switzerland, and the Unites States.

Minister of Tourism, Carlos Ricardo Benavides said that Costa Rica’s revenues from international tourism reached $1.9 billion and the number of foreign tourists in Costa Rica reached almost 2 million tourists for 2007.

As part of the country’s sustainable tourism strategy, the Costa Rica Tourist Board (ICT) and the Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) program unified efforts in setting up an outstanding informational booth for Costa Rican tourism companies and international visitors. CST staff educated companies in how to fulfill certification parameters.

Benavides said that sustainable development is a main objective of Costa Rica’s tourism industry and the only approach to maintain a healthy growth of the industry, secure a fair distribution of wealth, improve the quality of life of citizens and protect the country’s natural beauty for future generations.

Among some of the major announcements during EXPOTUR 2008 was the construction of the first large convention center in the Central Valley. The project will be located near Costa Rica’s main international airport Juan Santamaria in Alajuela.

The grounds will be comprised of over 56,800 acres and will include fair and exposition grounds, a large convention center, several offices, and two hotels. Veragua Rainforest Research & Adventure Park was also unveiled during EXPOTUR.