Costa Rica is making a play for more international tourists with a series of TV commercials aimed at soccer fans in the US and Europe.
The TV ads were produced jointly by the Foreign Trade Department and the investment promotion agency Costa Rican Coalition for Development Initiatives (CINDE), and will be shown during televised World Cup matches in international markets.
The Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) said the 30-second ads will be shown on ESPN in the US, Telecinco in Spain, ITV in the UK and Germany’s ZDF.
Tourism officials are hopeful of reaching over 10 million viewers with the ads.
The country brand ‘Essential Costa Rica’ will be the focus of the TV commercials showcasing its natural beauty, warm and talented people, and innovative and competitive business nature, according to the ICT.
"The goal is to strengthen our overall image as a destination in view of our big business generators," said Tourism Minister Wilhelm von Breymann.
"We will be showing this essence that distinguishes us from other countries to an audience of millions through a prominent sporting event like the World Cup," said von Breymann.
The US, Germany, UK and Spain are primary markets for Costa Rica tourism and generated 142,000 visitors from these countries last year.
In total 2.34 million foreign tourists visited Costa Rica in 2013, contributing $2.3 billion to the economy.
