Costa Rica participated from March 7th to 9th in the ITB Berlin tourism fair, in Germany, the first face-to-face edition since 2019, to be held at the Messe Berlin exhibition center, in the German capital. The German ITB fair is considered the largest travel and tourism event in the world and was created in 1966. This year, its motto was “Open for Change” and it had 4,500 exhibitors from 150 countries.
The last participation of Costa Rica in said event took place in the first virtual edition of the fair in 2021. The 2020 edition was canceled days before its inauguration due to the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Our promotional work in 2023 focuses on the priority tourist markets for Costa Rica and, in the case of Europe, Germany is of enormous importance for the country. This fair will allow us to reinforce the excellent image of Costa Rica, highlight our pioneering role in the issue of sustainability, put ourselves in the spotlight as a destination to visit on the travel list of German tourists, and refresh key relationships with strategic partners in the sector”, said William Rodríguez, Minister of Tourism.
Within the promotional actions that Costa Rica implements during the fair and in agreement with its sustainable tourism development model, the carbon footprint of the transfer of stand materials from Spain to Germany will be offset and visitors will be invited to join to this action, compensating for the transfer from their workplaces or home to the place of the event.
On the other hand, during the dates of the ITB fair, a van transported the image of Costa Rica and the idea of ‘Pura Vida‘ in temporary projections through the streets of Berlin, with the aim of having a brand presence around the Fairgrounds. In addition, 2 portable projectors were placed in the fair area to create maximum visibility for Costa Rica and strengthen an extra presence, reach ITB visitors and people from the sector who will see them on their way to the fair and back of the activity. The projections were visible 4 hours a day, during the time of greatest influx of visitors.
On March 7th, the start day of the ITB, Costa Rica was the organizing country and protagonist of the press breakfast with the association VDRJ Vereinigung Deutsche Reisejournalisten (VDRJ, Association of German Travel Journalists), which was attended by between 25 and 30 of the most important journalists in the tourism sector where they exchanged opinions and were informed about the news about the tourist product of Costa Rica and that they take the destination into account in future publications.
Then, on Wednesday, March 8th, Costa Rica offered a press conference with the media to highlight the news of the destination, the sustainable development model and the travel trends for 2023, among other topics, with the presence of William Rodríguez, Minister of Tourism and Ireth Rodríguez, head of promotion of the ICT.
To continue with the promotion of the country, the head of Tourism; ICT representatives and businessmen will attend interviews with specialized media, as well as appointments with airlines, as well as German, European and international tourism professionals, with the goal of reinforcing the good image of Costa Rica, highlighting its pioneering role in ecotourism, its natural and variety, its commitment to climate change and being the destination that should not be missed on the travel list.
During the 3 days of the fair, the German radio Holiday broadcast live from the Costa Rica stand to all of Germany, with a technical reach of 7.3 million people and with special programs focused on “travel destinations”. An hourly interview was conducted, lasting 1 minute and a half, between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. and 4 p.m. (Germany local time) to invite them to travel to Costa Rica and learn more about the country, which will also be published on the station’s website.
