Costa Rica is a land of endless charms, and not all of them are related to her natural beauty, amazing biodiversity and penchant for environmental protection. Until recently, the National Board of Tourism (ICT) has focused on two major concepts for the branding and marketing of Costa Rica as an international destination. From now on, however, the focus will be on the Ticos.

Esencial Costa Rica (Essential Costa Rica) seeks to portray the people of Costa Rica as peaceful, down-to-earth and driven by a patriotic sense of protecting their quality of life. The new brand replaces the previous “Costa Rica: No Artificial Ingredients” branding strategy that was quite successful in promoting the country to ecotourists and lovers of adventuresome vacations. The essence of Costa Rica is now being attributed to the authenticity of her people.

The marketing and public relations firm behind Essential Costa Rica, Future Brand, conducted a series of focus groups among tourists and foreign visitors who were asked about their perception of Ticos. The positive responses received form an image of people in Costa Rica being:

• Warm
• Peaceful
• Committed to quality of life
• Resourceful

Moreover, the focus groups revealed that Ticos are aware of the natural treasures of their beloved Costa Rica and her biodiversity. They are also aware of the growth the country has achieved in terms of business, industry and technology, and they want to keep moving in this direction.

ICT, along with the National Chamber of Tourism (Spanish acronym: CANATUR), will soon set out to present Essential Costa Rica to Asia, Europe and North America. The idea is to move beyond tourism and to let the international community know that Ticos are ready to welcome foreign investment and industry.

For the most part, the brand has been well-received. Slight opposition has been voiced by a few in the tourism and hospitality sector who think the previous branding was more adequate for Costa Rica. At the National Legislative Assembly, one legislator complained that the color scheme (green and white) was an obvious attempt to promote the social-democratic National Liberation political party. Other legislators think that not using the red, white and blue flag colors is a missed opportunity.

As is customary in our country, haters have already come out in force against Essential Costa Rica. The criticisms range from the grammatical: “In Spanish, we prefer that the adjective be placed after the noun,” to the technological: “The website is not responsive, and the video -while emotionally appealing– is repetitive and tiresome.”

Source: El Financiero