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.