In this context, Travel2latam spoke with Carolina Trejos, Marketing Director of the ICT, Costa Rican Tourism Institute.
What is the experience of participating in Fitur this year?
Fitur for us is the spearhead, we start the year here and we always do very well. Businessmen are very eager to get a space to come with us. Fitur is a fair that allows us not only to have very good coverage of the Spanish market, but also brings us closer to some European markets. We have also seen in recent years that it has become a fair where the Latin American markets come and we can start doing business with them from the beginning of the year.
Do you have representatives from the private sector? Who is accompanying them?
40 businessmen are coming with us this year. We returned to the numbers we had before 2019, which fills us with joy. We have hotels, operators, rent cars and experiences, but in addition, we have been accompanied by some key partners such as the Chamber of Hotels. We are happy to have them all.
What are the objectives from a strategic point of view at the beginning of the year?
We close 2023 with visitor numbers completely recovered compared to 2019, even with growth. This year and the next two or three we have a great objective of once again seeking a balance and diversification of the markets that reach Costa Rica, such as expanding to Europe. Of course, after the pandemic we focused a lot on the development of those close to Costa Rica, which allowed us to quickly recover the level of tourism. They were the United States, Canada, Mexico. We close in 2023, with them concentrating 70% of the tourists received. So we will focus on expanding that international range, that is step number, focused on development, especially in those markets where we have direct flights to Costa Rica. And the second is also diversification, but of segment, making the MICE segment grow. Costa Rica, after the pandemic, was an important player in that regard, especially in incentives and corporate groups.
In addition to the potential they have with the Convention Center, they have added connectivity last year... Have they been able to talk with aeronautics businessmen to attract more airlines?
Yes, this is a fair that allows us to start the year with a very good approach with these strategic partners. We have had meetings with KLM, Air France, Iberia, Iberojet and Tui. January gives us the impetus to develop our strategies and objectives for the entire year.
What region do you imagine could take off the most, outside of what everyone knows about Costa Rica?
We are very focused on making known the product we have in the Central Valley in the mountains. San Gerardo de Dota is a beautiful place where our best coffee comes from, high altitude coffee. A lot of tourism products have been developed there, focused on contact with the community, nature and pure life. It is a place that I do not recommend missing.