Costa Rica launches transformative advertising campaign for priority European markets

Costa Rica officially launched a novel advertising campaign with a unified concept and transformative messages for potential tourists from six priority European markets, specifically Germany, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

Undoubtedly, the best showcase for this important announcement was the sixtieth edition of the ITB 2026 trade fair, held at the Messe event center in Berlin, Germany, and considered the most important tourism negotiation event in the world.

According to Silvia Rodríguez, Head of the Brand Strategy and Communication Department at the Costa Rican Tourism Institute, this campaign aims to invite European travelers to discover something they can't experience anywhere else in the world. Something they can only truly believe and understand once they experience it for themselves. It's something that even we Costa Ricans often struggle to describe. But it's real, it exists, and it's waiting for each of these travelers. It's the Pura Vida spirit.

“It’s that peace that envelops you from the moment you set foot on our land, it’s the warmth of our people, it’s the richness of our roots and traditions, it’s a way of life that makes us value what is truly essential. That Pura Vida spirit has the power to touch people’s hearts and transform their vacation into a truly restorative experience. And that’s what we wanted to communicate with this campaign, which aims to be a sincere invitation to rediscover balance and live a transformative experience in Costa Rica,” said Rodríguez.

While it all stems from the same concept and creative essence that invites future travelers to "start living Pura Vida", the audiovisuals and materials of the campaign will have adaptations to each language and particular approaches based on the profile of the tourists, maintaining the local particularities of each country.

Tourism Minister William Rodríguez was responsible for officially launching the campaign on Tuesday, March 3, at a presentation event for international guests and media.

“While the campaign’s messages focus part of their discourse on the wonders of Costa Rica, they also concentrate on the people who visit us, inviting them to experience a transformative, essential, and regenerative journey. This campaign unifies, positions, and projects Costa Rica in Europe as a sustainable, respectful destination with a welcoming, humane, and safe environment, deeply connected to the traveler’s well-being,” said Rodríguez.

An invitation to "reset" and start over

The launch of this campaign also reinforces the positioning of “Pura Vida” in a contemporary and relevant way for the European market. Its main value proposition is an invitation to potential European tourists to “reset” from a complex world on a unique transformative journey to Costa Rica.

According to the campaign's creative team, when we talk about "resetting," we are referring to emotional and sensory concepts such as "starting over," "making a new start," "restoring," or even "regenerating" in Costa Rica.

Ireth Rodríguez, Head of the Vacation Segment Promotion and Development Department, stated that “the campaign is based on four fundamental pillars that form the basis of our communication strategy in Europe: the 'transformative journey' to a place that can rejuvenate a traveler's perspective, the establishment of 'connections with Costa Ricans,' the exploration of a 'reinvented nature,' and the generation of a 'sustainable impact' when the traveler visits Costa Rica. The phrase 'start living pura vida,' more than an invitation, is a cry of optimism, a call to become aware and start living fully, valuing what is truly essential,” Rodríguez mentioned.

According to research conducted in the context of the campaign, among the motivations of European tourists, the search for transformative trips beyond simple vacations stands out; in addition, they value authentic nature, real human presence and contact with locals, they are more focused on "lived experiences" and are sensitive to sustainability, wellness tourism, local culture and purposeful travel.

It's worth mentioning at this point that the development and conceptual basis of the campaign were made possible by the creative work of the communication agencies that provide services to the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) in key European markets, under the creative leadership of the Spanish agency Newlink. The advertising campaign will run from March to November 2026 and targets audiences with a high interest in traveling to Costa Rica, such as seniors, families, young people, and those seeking a honeymoon destination.

According to the ICT, there will be a presence in priority European markets, in media including digital television, digital radio, outdoor digital screens, free-to-air television, cinema, print, and social platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram between March and November 2026.

The audiovisual production was carried out with a team of 48 people, of which 40 are Costa Rican.

It was filmed over ten days in different locations across the country, including San José, Bajos de Toro Amarillo, Alajuela, the South Caribbean, Poás Volcano, and the South Pacific, covering more than 2,500 kilometers, with valuable contributions and collaboration from the inhabitants of the aforementioned communities.

The European region saw an increase in tourist arrivals over the past three months. During 2025, a total of 419,820 European travelers visited Costa Rica by air.

Source: ICT.