After more than a decade of wait, the National Congress and Convention Center (CNCC) opens doors today, April 5 under the management of a consortium formed by Colombian group Heroica and Costa Rican firm Volio and Trejos. Heroica group also handles the Cartagena Convention Center with positive figures.

According to projections by the Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) the Convention Center is expected to generate a yearly profit of at least 12%. The hope is that the CTCC attracts as many international conventions and congresses as possible with competitive costs to offer a become a better alternative in comparison to other destinations.

“The model of operation is the development of different types of events. With a unity dedicated to investigation to identify those that have the potential of being organized in Costa Rica, with the idea of generation occupation of the building and economic growth for the city”, explains the press release.

At this point 63 meetings have already been confirmed between now and 2021; these are expected to generate approximately $210 million in earnings.

Costa Rica aims to become the regional leader for meetings, congress and conventions tourism; the current leader is Panama. Costa Rica also has the challenge of negotiating with hotels and the commerce related to this sector since the Convention Center does not have a hotel.

Costa Rica has taken part in specialized fairs and has created promotional campaigns for the past two years both in America and Europe. Last year the country received the most important award at the Fiexpo Fair of South America for its proposal as an important destination in the meeting tourism industry.

The CNCC contemplates a main building with an area of 15,600 square meters, to be constructed in a 10 hectare land located at a distance of 8km of the Juan Santamaria International Airport and 10 km of the center of San Jose, close to the Wyndham Hotel. The building has a maximum capacity for 4600 people and the cost for this stage of the project was of $35 million USD.