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Costa Rica
Seduces The Big Apple
Facing a decline in tourism, primarily from
US visitors, due to the world economic
crisis, Costa Rican tourism is getting a
boost from a New York Times article titled,
"Costa Rica Any Way You Want It".
The article appeared the New York Times
travel section last Sunday (March 22) after
a visit by freelance writer ETHAN
TODRAS-WHITEHILL to Costa Rica for a
vacation.
Whitehill, in the story relates in detail
his trip to Costa Rica and his experiences,
sharing them with the millions of readers of
the New York Times publication, in print and
online.
"Think of Costa Rica as a Rorschach test for
travelers. Outlined on a map, it has no
recognizable shape. But enclosed in tropical
lines of latitude, with appropriate
squiggles for mountains, coasts and interior
borders, it's an inkblot for projecting
travel fantasies. Beach lovers trace the
craggy coasts and see hammocks swinging in
the sunset breeze. The eyes of the
nature-minded glaze when they note all the
national parks. And adrenaline fanatics
fixate on the mountains and rivers", writes
Whitehill.
The end result of the article is free
publicity for a country where the number of
visitors has dropped 11% over the same
period last year and is highly dependent on
American tourists.
"It is a cost free promotion, with
credibility and very valuable in these times
of crisis", said Carlos Benavides, ministro
de Turismo - Costa Rica's tourism minister.
According to Benavides, New York is a very
important market for Costa Rican tourism,
where, along with places like San Francisco,
lie the majority of Costa Rica's potential
tourism customers.
Figures by the Instituto Costarricense de
Turismo (ICT) - Costa Rican tourism
institute - half of all tourists come from
the United States and one third of the
visits are with family.
To boost Costa Rica's image even further in
the United States, the ICT is planning a
series of ads in the National Geographic
Traveler magazine. The ads begin in June and
run until November. NATGEO prints 19 million
copies of the special edition. Benavides
said that the cost of advertising in NATGEO
is about us$2 million dollars.
In addition, Costa Rica has been advertising
on phone booths and had warmers during the
New York winter months with the slogan "Warm
Up in Costa Rica".
To promote Costa Rica to the US market, the
ICT has a deal with an advertising agency to
inspire other publications and reporters to
follow the New York Times lead.
The tourism minister also said that Costa
Rica will be participating in some 45
international tourism fairs this year, a
record for the ministry, attracting visitors
from countries like Switzerland, Russia and
South America.
In the article, Whitehills talks about
Eco-Tourism, Adventure tourism and Luxury
tourism, telling readers of his experiences
in places like Manuel Antonio, Monteverde
and Turrialba.
"How many Costa Ricas could we sample in
just eight days? I settled on three: the
rich primordial forest, the adventurer's
playground and the beachfront paradise",
Whitehill temps his readers.
Read the New York Times article here. |
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