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Expotur strengthens its commitment to sustainability in its 35th year

 

  • The country’s main sustainable tourism marketing fair received a certificate of carbon neutrality for the fourth consecutive year, as well as its sixth Ecological Blue Flag for special events.

Over the last two days, tourism sector wholesalers from 35 different countries from around the world met with 324 business leaders to sell Costa Rica around the world as a multifaceted sustainable tourist destination. A total of 5,605 appointments were held.

According to ACOPROT, 51% of the international wholesalers visited the fair for the first time. In addition to long-standing markets such as the United States and Canada, the organizers aimed to strengthen Costa Rica’s position in emerging markets such as Poland, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia. Among European nations, the largest contingents belonged to Germany, France and Spain.

This trade fair represented 13,000 direct employees and 40,000 indirect employees. In addition, the event has generated tax revenues of $150,000 on average in each of the three previous fiscal periods. At the conclusion of this year’s event, it can be considered to have been one of the most successful.

“We are very pleased to celebrate 35 continuous years of annual events with such excellent results. Once again, we have confirmed that this is the main tourism marketing fair in the country and the region, as well as a space for commercial exchange that is very important for tourism in Latin America. The experience of our 35th fair has reaffirmed the fundamental importance of this event, and we are already hard at work to reinvent the fair at next year’s event”, said Erasmo Rojas, President of ACOPROT.

Sustainability

Following the sustainability plan established for Expotur 2019, the trade fair complied with its environmental commitment and received the Ecological Blue Flag for the sixth consecutive year. It was the first event held at the Costa Rica Convention Center to receive a Blue Flag score of 100, as well as receiving an international declaration of Carbon Neutrality from 100% Carbon Neutral.

This process is internationally reviewed by Co2Balance in London and by CarbonFund.org in New York. The event’s footprint will be neutralized through the Carbonfund Foundation’s REDD+ Envira Amazon Project, currently the largest active restoration project in the Amazon Basin.

Additionally, the organization participated in various initiatives in the social and economic spheres to reaffirm its commitment to being a model event in terms of sustainability, including the donation of plastic caps to the Dona Tapa Initiative of the Costa Rican Sustainable Tourism Network.

“As an organization, we are committed to strengthening our actions with respect to environmental sustainability during Expotur, since these are consistent with the destination we represent and the values of sustainability that we want to continue projecting as a country. Our goal is to keep being a model to follow, not just in environmental sustainability, but rather in other areas such as social and economic issues”, Rojas added.

The carbon footprint was mainly measured based on the impact of transportation, including pre- and post-event inspections, transportation for purchasers and official transportation, as well as electricity, LPG and refrigerants, among others.

Companies participating as exhibitors at Expotur 2019 had the opportunity to compete for the most sustainable stand award. The winner of a free space in Expotur 2020 was Asociación Proparques.

The fair organizers seek to use this prize to motivate participants to use their creativity in presenting their products and services, taking environmental and socio-economic issues into account. The aspects evaluated to determine the winner were originality, use of decorative materials, responsible environmental practices, promotion of a responsible economy and representation of cultural and natural heritage.