35% Discount Offered To
National Tourists
An intensified campaign
to spur local tourism
beginning in August will
mean discounts of up to
35% during the low
season and 20% in the
high season for Costa
Rican nationals.
The ministro de Turismo,
Carlos Ricardo Benavides
and the president of
Canatur, Gonzalo Vargas,
yesterday unveiled a
program that includes
118 participating
businesses that include
hotels, travel agencies,
tour operators, car
rentals and restaurants,
that will offer the
discounts.
The program called "Redescubra
su país" (Rediscover
your country) is being
promoted by the
Instituto Costarricense
de Turismo (ICE) -
tourism board, the
Cámara Nacional de
Turismo (Canatur) -
national tourism
chamber, the Cámara
Costarricense de Hoteles
(hotel chamber) and the
Banco Nacional (BN).
The Tourism minister
said that he hopes that
the program will
increase tourist
activity by as much as
20% by the end of the
year.
The program is geared
towards Ticos (Costa
Ricans) to visit every
corner of the country,
the tourism industry
spending as much as ¢200
million colones on
television and newspaper
advertising to promote
the program.
For his part, the
president of the Cámara
de Hoteleros, Carlos
Lachner, the national
tourist is the main
support of the industry
and had no doubt that
local tourist will
maintain the industry
afloat in the face of a
decrease of the expected
drop in US tourists, a
result of the economic
conditions of the US.
Travel agencies and tour
operators will be the
main source of
distribution of
pamphlets to promote
Ticos to travel within
their country, while
customers of the Banco
Nacional will be offered
special discounts when
purchasing with the
bank's plastic.
An estimated 1.3 million
Ticos are expected to
take advantage of the
discounts like that
offered are the Tico
favourite vacation spot
of Club Punta Leona
(near Jacó), where the
price of a room will be
us$99 from the standard
us$152 per night or
us$71 down from us$109
(two days, one night) to
visit the Bosque Nuboso
en Monteverde.
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