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Published Thursday, May 7, 2020
Low prices and local travelers
should increase tourism
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
With the development of a local tourism campaign with low prices aimed at local travelers, foreign residents and Costa Ricans, the Tourism Institute seeks to increase tourism in the country, after the pandemic comes to an end.
According to the institute, to stimulate national tourism and start to bring the sector out of paralysis due to the pandemic, strategic alliances will be established with cooperatives, associations and banks to promote discounts and payment facilities, as an incentive for people who live in the country to encourage them to explore local tourism.
"Unlike previous national tourism campaigns, in which the private sector offered promotional packages, this time the Institute will directly contribute with actions such as raffles, discounts to reducing prices so, together with the offers to national tourists, vacation will be much more attractive for Costa Ricans," said Maria Amalia Revelo, Minister of Tourism and President of the Institute of Tourism.
The plan to incentivize tourism was presented to the six local tourism chambers and the National Chamber of Tourism, said the institute.
The main points of the plan are to focus on tourists, tourism companies, tourism employees, airlines, marketing, promotion strategies, and maritime tourism.
The industry is hurting. They have taken this time to create and structure different plans for tourism post-covid-19
The institute has developed a plan to deal with the return of international airlines when the health authorities allow it. They are renegotiating with the airlines travel campaigns that were planned for 2020. Among the important points are the sanitary guidelines for passengers entering and leaving the country, the analysis of the operating costs of airlines, said the institute.
The plan for the advertising campaign called “Only the Essentials” will continue, which presents Costa Rica not only as a place to travel but as a life-transforming experience.
Public banks created a rescue program for tourism companies. The goal is to provide support for working capital and cash flow for small and medium businesses.
There is one plan still in the negotiation phase with the Inter-American Development Bank, IDB, which is to develop an employment program for small tourism companies.
According to the institute, 94% of tourism companies in the country are small or medium, such as hotels with 40 rooms or less.
In 2019, the tourism sector generated $3.9 trillion and more than 200,000 people work in tourist companies, according to statistics from the Costa Rican Central Bank.
On April 13, the Ministry of Tourism announced holding virtual meetings with associations and chambers related to the tourism sector.
According to Revelo, the private tourism sector is deeply injured by the economic crisis due to covid-19.
"Our technical teams have been working on the Action Plan for the Reactivation of the National Tourism Sector and the ideas that arise from these meetings are being valued to design the plan," Revelo said.
Unemployment, lack of cash flow and poor financial capacity due to the crisis during the tourism season have been the main concerns that representatives of the chambers have reported to government authorities.
The Tourism Institute reports that, like its affiliated private companies, it has stopped receiving new resources due to the crisis unleashed by covid-19. "The reactivation will be gradual and slow, there are no magic solutions, the priority market for the tourist reactivation will be the national market as it will happen in other countries of the world," Revelo said.
According to the ministry, it is in the process of setting up containment, financial aid and recovery plans for the tourism sector.
Also, the government authorities call on the owners of tourism companies to explain to their employees the process that must be done to request the Proteger aid. This help applies to fired employees or those who had to reduce their salary.
According to the government, several presidents or leaders of various tourist organizations had already expressed their concerns over the effects of the pandemic on tourism.
The National Chamber of Tourism, Costa Rican Chamber of Hotels, Costa Rican Association of Tour Operators, Costa Rican Association of Travel Agencies, Costa Rican Chamber of Restaurants, Costa Rican Association of Car Rentals and Association of Tourism Carriers, among many others were the first to communicate with the government.
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