After a year of Pandemic, the Costa Rican tourism industry shows only slight signs of recovery. At a time when all action to attract more travelers is welcome, the recent promotion made by the goalkeeper, Keylor Navas, was celebrated by the sector.
This was stated by the Guanacasteca Chamber of Tourism (Caturgua) and the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT). “It is a great thing that a sports star talks about Guanacaste,” added Caturgua vice president José Tomás Batalla.
Precisely, this past Friday, the social networks of Paris Saint-Germain were adorned with a publication starring the Costa Rican goalkeeper and figure of the French team. In it, Navas highlights the province of Guanacaste and calls foreigners to visit the area.
“Costa Rica is a country that has a lot of biodiversity, being on the beach, even being able to be with wild animals at the same time. There are many volcanoes that can be visited. The ability to reach any national park, where the animals live in their national habitat. We also have the privilege of having whale seasons, where you can see whales, turtles and when you normally go, you can see dolphins,” said the goalkeeper.
The ad is part of a marketing campaign by the company Accor Live Limitless, one of the sponsors of the Parisian team. Currently, more than 40 million people follow the Paris Saint-Germain social networks, on various platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Good Will Ambassador
For her part, the ICT Marketing Director, Carolina Trejos, assured that Navas’ action is appreciated by the entity, who highlighted the “organic manner” of the message and recalled that the institution considers the player a good will ambassador of the country and its tourism brand. It should be remembered that, during his time at Real Madrid, the Costa Rican formally collaborated with ICT campaigns, something that seems to have motivated the goalkeeper.
Reinforcing the position of Costa Rica as a tourist destination
“This type of message from the goalkeeper and other international figures from the world of entertainment, entertainment and sports, reinforce the positioning of Costa Rica as a tourist destination. With a quality service platform but, above all, that complies with all bio-security protocols.
“The impact of this message we hope will motivate many French, Europeans and tourists from other latitudes to visit our country, especially because more than 40 million people follow the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram profiles of this renowned football team” Trejos said.
Recovering from the crisis
According to data from the Central Bank of Costa Rica, the tourism sector was the most affected by the contraction in economic activity. Border closures, sanitary restrictions and a stagnant economy have been the main ingredients of a “perfect storm.”
Although, as of March of this year, it gave its first signs of survival, this sector continues to show a negative year-on-year rate of change. This was -18.5% according to the Monthly Index of Economic Activity (IMAE) of the Central Bank.
According to ICT estimates, a maximum of 1.6 million visitors is expected this year. Last year, the country received only 1,011,912 entries to the country’s airports. This equates to 66% less than in 2019.
