Costa Rica is recognized in the world for being one of the richest destinations in biodiversity, for the variety of its unique tourist attractions and for always going to the forefront in the development of sustainable tourism. Precisely for this and other reasons, the prestigious magazine Condé Nast Traveler Spain granted our country the recognition of the “International Destination 2018”.
The “Golden List” awards ceremony took place at the emblematic Casino de Madrid on Calle de Alcalá in Madrid Spain, in an event that celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, in which the best destinations are awarded, resorts, spas, urban hotels, getaway hotels, “traveler solidarity”, family hotels, airlines, cruises, both national and international.
For Maria Amalia Revelo, Minister of Tourism, this award is one of the results that validate the effort and development of the promotion strategies carried out in recent years in the European market, where it has significantly increased the number of direct flights to the different Costa Rica airports and has been registered a notable increase in tourist visitation.
“Without doubt, receiving the recognition as the International Destination of the Year by one of the most relevant and well-known magazines in the world is an incentive to continue to increase strategically the actions tending to position Costa Rica as a destination which is constantly evolving, capable of offer unique experiences to visitors and above all that can be enjoyed 365 days a year”, said the new hierarch.
It is worth mentioning that the award merit obtained by Costa Rica is even more outstanding, since it was initially included in a list of 25 international destinations at the end of November. Later, thanks to the vote of the public and the followers of the website www.traveler.es managed to enter among the 10 finalists.
In this list competed with other world destinations of interest for the taste of the Spanish as Azores, Cape Town, Samaná in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Hawaii, Kerala in India, Puglia in Italy, Scotland and Mexico City.
This important prize was received by the Ambassador of Costa Rica in Spain, Mrs. Doris Osterlof. She thanked this recognition, not only on behalf of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), but also on behalf of her new leader, the first woman in the last twenty-five years to assume the Ministry of Tourism in Costa Rica, and without a doubt on behalf of all Costa Ricans.
She also emphasizes that this award is part of the results of the efforts made in tourism in Costa Rica. Besides, Mrs. Osterlof invited those who were present during the event, to know this small country, great not only in its natural beauty, but for its warm and hospitable people, the country of the “Pura vida“.
Condé Nast Traveler is a solid means of communication founded almost 20 years ago that has become, more than a magazine, a benchmark for the current Spanish traveler. Within its editorial line highlights the visualization of the most fashionable and striking destinations, suggesting to its readers how to enjoy them.
Its printed and digital editions reach a medium and high purchasing power, permanently showing unique and sophisticated destinations. For all the above, it is an honor that Costa Rica has been designated by its readers as the “International Destination of 2018”. This will surely motivate a lot of readers to plan and enjoy some incredible Costa Rica holidays.
Its print edition has a monthly print run of 20,000 copies and its website www.traveler.es registers 800,000 unique users and more than 5.5 million monthly page views, together with a Facebook profile of more than 200,000 followers.
It should be mentioned that in the year 2017 the European market presented an important growth and a total of 462,295 tourists from Europe were registered in the Costa Rica travel. This represented a growth of 6.3% with respect to the previous period. Spain is currently the fourth tourist issuing market with 69,782 Spaniards visiting the country.
The figures maintain their positive trend in the first months of the year and also keep in force all the promotional actions that take place in Europe such as, for example, participation in international fairs, the development of cooperative campaigns, as well as the follow-up of the strategy with the agency of Public Relations of the ICT in Europe.
We expect that the different recognitions Costa Rica is winning all around the world thanks to the great efforts of keeping a sustainable way of tourism will continue to motivate travelers to visit and explore this paradisiac jewel.