‘Only the Essentials’: Costa Rica launches new tourism campaign in U.S. and Canada

Costa Rica hopes to drive more U.S. and Canadian tourism to the country with a new international marketing campaign titled “Only the Essentials.”

Over the next two years, Costa Rica’s Tourism Board (ICT) will brand the country as “an opportunity to connect with the essence of life: nature, well-being, culture and adventure” in major markets across North America. 

ICT will lease billboards, pay for advertising on taxis, buses, and in subway stations, and sponsor content on platforms including TripAdvisor and The New York Times.

Costa Rica is targeting the following markets in the United States: New York, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Minneapolis, Las Vegas, Tampa, Orlando, Denver, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Seattle, Austin, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Boston and Chicago. In Canada, the campaign will include Toronto, Montreal and Calgary.

“The campaign proposes a personal connection with what is truly substantial in life, and that is what Costa Rica offers through countless experiences, with its different landscapes, nature, culture and adventure,” said María Amalia Revelo, Tourism Minister. 

The tourism campaign is the first step in President Carlos Alvarados’s plans to reinvigorate the Costa Rican economy, in part through public and private investments.

Tourism is “one of the main engines of the country’s economy,” ICT says, comprising an estimated 8.2% of Costa Rica’s gross domestic product (GDP) and creating 9% of its jobs.

And much of that tourism comes from the U.S. and Canada. During the first half of 2019, 65% of all tourists arriving via air travel came from those two countries.