Costa Rica Tourism Institute Launches Domestic Tourism Campaign
Posted by Adam Sax on Wed, Jun 20, 2012 @ 11:53 AM
By: Maricela Salas, The Costa Rica Star
The Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) is launching a new campaign titled “Vamos a Turistear” or “Let’s go Touristing” aimed at the domestic tourism niche.
While ICT has made great marketing efforts to stimulate international tourism in the past, this time the campaign is focused only on those who are already in the country and are looking to get to know it better at affordable rates.
Their objective is for Costa Ricans to enjoy the same high quality standards that help create an unforgettable travel experience for more than 2 million tourists who visit Costa Rica each year.
The website www.vamosaturistear.com contains reduced rates for accommodation options on Costa Rica’s best beach, mountain and city locations as well as discounts for Adventure packages that go from, 10-15% in high season, to 20-35% in low season. The page also provides domestic travelers with useful tips such as information on culinary and protected areas as well as touristic landmarks.
More than 80 local entrepreneurs within the tourism industry have signed up and are supporting this initiative along with the Costa Rican Association of Tour Operators (ACOT), the Costa Rican Chamber of Hotels (CCH) and the National Rural Community Tourism (Canturural).
In addition, the website will contain the terms and conditions for the different contests they will be holding. For example, their current contest consists in rewarding travelers with discounts and prizes for discovering and visiting unique destinations throughout Costa Rica.
Participants must go to the campaign’s Facebook page and provide a brief written testimonial of their experience while ‘touristing’ as well as pictures to support it. The one that gathers the most likes will be the winner of undisclosed prizes.
Allan Flores, Costa Rican Minister of Tourism stated:
“The idea is to provide tools for Costa Ricans to get deeper into their own home at an affordable price, get informed about the campaign, give it the attention it deserves and enjoy the highest quality standards,” said Flores.
This project intends to tap into the 570,000 families (45% of the population) that vacationed within Costa Rica last year.
A total of $550.000 will be invested for this campaign during the first phase of this project which will be developed from June until December 2012.
Ireth Rodríguez, Assistant manager and Marketing manager for ICT, states that the second phase for this campaign will be launched as of January 2013. For more information on this campaign call 1-800-TURISMO.