Local hotels, adventure tour companies and transportation services filled several rooms at the Ramada Plaza Herradura conference center in Cariari, a northwestern San Jose suburb, yesterday for the first day of EXPOTUR.
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The tourism conference, organized annually by the Costa Rican Association of Tourism Professionals (ACOPROT), runs through Sunday. Some 260 businesses set up stands for more than 100 travel companies.
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Exhibitors yesterday held 20-minute meetings with potential buyers  travel agencies and tourism groups from the United States, Canada and Latin America.
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One of the most important (things) about being here is improving relations with clients, and making some new ones, said Felipe Chacon, sales manager of Savegre Hotel, a bird watching hotspot famous for quetzals in San Gerardo de Dota. Seeing (clients) face-to-face … helps to improve relationships.
