Ever since the collapse of the financial markets in 2008 gave way to a period of economic crisis and recession in many developed countries, tourism industry analysts in Costa Rica… Read more » Continue reading →
Ever since the collapse of the financial markets in 2008 gave way to a period of economic crisis and recession in many developed countries, tourism industry analysts in Costa Rica have observed a sharp drop in the amount of money spent by foreign visitors. A couple of years ago, the same analysts noticed an uptick in the amount of money spend by Costa Ricans exploring their own country, and thus a national campaign to promote domestic tourism was born.
In 2013, the National Board of Tourism (Spanish initials: ICT) decided to relaunch its Vamos a Turistear (let’s take a trip) campaign to encourage domestic tourism. To that end, the ICT set aside $715,000 for marketing and advertising, which represents about five percent of the board’s total budget for promotional endeavors.
According to Cesar Brenes Quiros of business weekly El Financiero, the domestic tourism campaign in 2012 generated about 700 direct bookings and 100,000 visits to lodges, restaurants, theme parks, and other recreation destinations. To participate in the campaign, tourism operators in Costa Rica must agree to offer a substantial discount to residents who display their cedula (national identification card), including foreigners who have obtained legal resident status.
Most discounts have been in the 10 percent range, but domestic tourists have also enjoyed generous price reductions of 35 percent when they book family packages at luxury beach resorts in Guanacaste, Jaco Beach and other popular destinations. With more than two million Costa Ricans opting for domestic tourism each year, ICT has strengthened its efforts in this regard with an aggressive Facebook campaign, mobile apps as well as radio, television and Internet advertising.
Some foreign tourists who visit Costa Rica at least twice a year complain that their vacations have become too expensive, and thus they would like to see discounts similar to those offered to their domestic counterparts. That may just happen in 2014 thanks to a stronger U.S. dollar and growing inflation in Costa Rica; two factors that will certainly make domestic tourists think twice about how much to spend on vacation.