- The provinces occupy positions 11 and 24, respectively, for the segment of Meeting, Incentive Travel, Congresses and Conventions, according to the Cvent suppliers’ network, one of the main tools for measuring prospective cities
Guanacaste and San José were included in the list of the best Latin American cities to hold events in the meeting and congress tourism market, according to the global network of suppliers in this sector, called Cvent. The ranking measures locations with the best standing and characteristics for the MICE sector (Meetings, Incentives, Congresses and Events).
In the Cvent rankings, published this month, Guanacaste took the 11th spot and San José came in 24th in the list of Best 25 Meeting Destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean 2019. This was San José’s first time appearing on the list. The ranking considers the number of hotels suitable for meetings and events, as well as the number of rooms available, among other characteristics. The list of the first 25 cities with which Costa Rica has been competing include long-time favorites in this segment, such as Nassau, Bahamas, Playa del Carmen, Cancún, Mexico City, Cabo San Lucas, the Riviera Maya and Puerto Vallarta in Mexico, as well as Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, Montego Bay, Jamaica, Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands, Palm Beach, Aruba, Buenos Aires, Argentina, São Paulo, Brazil, Bogotá, Colombia and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, among others.
For Rafael Quesada Alvarado, ICT’s Head of Advertising and the coordinator for its MICE promotion strategy, the inclusion of Guanacaste and San José in this prestigious ranking is the result of the efforts of a destination promotion and marketing strategy that ICT has implemented among the main markets of the MICE sector. “ICT has implemented significant efforts to position Costa Rica as a solid destination in the segment of meetings, congresses, events and incentive travel over the last few years, working alongside the private sector. The recent opening of the Costa Rica Convention Center complements these efforts with a high-level venue in San José. In Guanacaste, a major tourism investment has also been made in hotels that have the ideal characteristics to host large-scale events”, Alvarado concluded.
Advances in the meeting tourism strategy
The ICT promotion strategy, along with complementary actions for the development of meeting tourism remain in force as part of the 2017-2021 National Tourism Development Plan. The meeting industry represents 22% of tourism at the global level and participants have a high spending power, up to 3-4 times as high as a traditional tourist. They are repeat tourists and clients. In addition, the importance of this niche has increased because it has a balancing effect on seasonality, since the high season for meetings coincides with the low season in other tourism markets for our country. This means that it has a dynamizing effect on the local economy, especially because many of the service providers are small and medium companies.
The Costa Rica Convention Bureau, a strategic partner, is helping in the implementation of the meeting tourism strategy. In addition, ICT implements an action plan that includes advertising in specialized media, participation in industry fairs alongside the private sector, engagement with industry organizations such as ICCA, trips with the industry press and purchasers, and training programs. Furthermore, one of the cornerstones of the strategy is assistance in the process of submitting applications, during which research is carried out on the relevant market to learn more about the congresses being planned and how Costa Rica can apply to be the next host. In this area, an ambassador’s program is used in which we work with internationally renowned professionals in their respective fields.
Cvent is a network of providers with the world’s largest database of hotels, special event destinations, conference centers, congress centers, restaurants, audiovisual companies and catering suppliers, among others, with records of over 200,000 places and 20,000 suppliers around the world.
For more information, see https://www.cvent.com/microsites/cvents-2019-top-meeting-destinations/cvents-top-25-meeting-destinations-in-cala?fbclid=IwAR29uHzJ3QtlHj_-QwDbhLvKz32CoyN_obQ4MwNaVuJVofF2HFB9tI7mzwA
