This is the opinion of Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (WTO) in interviews given to different Costa Rican media outlets.

Rifai, who was in the country participating in the international conference Planet, People, Peace (P3), said that Costa Rica is perceived in the world as an example of sustainability, not just environmental but also economic and social.

According to Rifai, Costa Rica should also consider the possibility of diversifying its tourism offer, taking advantage of aspects such as its culture; cultural tourism encompass everything from music to folk, lifestyle, gastronomy, music, history, etc.

Costa Rica has been very successful in attracting more and more foreign tourists every year; marketing campaigns targeted specifically to the North American and European market have paid off and the increase in the number of airlines and direct flights to the country have translated in the growth of the international visitors and the tourism industry in general which is currently indispensable to the country’s economy and generates over 600 thousand jobs.

However, Rifai considers one of the challenges the country faces has to do with attracting the local tourist. Offering experiences, he says, is more important that offering excellent infrastructure.

A high percentage of Costa Ricans many times consider that vacationing in the country is very expensive and therefore they opt for vacationing outside the country.