Costa Rica: EXPOTOUR 2007 Tourism Buyers to Costa Rica

Online Daily update to The Tico Times Weekly Edition Newspaper, Gays in Costa Rica Call for End to Discrimination, Costa Rica Finishes First Four Months of Year With Slight Financial Surplus: "Let the negotiations begin. EXPOTUR 2007 kicked off yesterday with the participation of 445 tourism-related companies at the Hotel Herradura conference center in Cariari, northwest of San José, as buyers gathered from all over the world to partake in Costa Rica's $1.7 billion tourism industry.

The event, hosted by the Costa Rican Association of Tourism Professionals (ACOPROT), has been taking place annually since 1984 and is the largest of its kind in the country.

The fair's growth has been slowed in recent years by the tight quarters at the convention center, and ACOPROT President Carlos Lizama said that the number of foreign buyers is down as a result.

However, according to an ACOPROT press release, 32% of the buyers at EXPOTUR this year represent “virgin” markets for Costa Rica, including Central European countries such as Poland and Latvia, as well as Nigeria, India, and the United Arab Emirates.

“You can see that the Costa Rican tourism product has improved year after year,” Lizama said.

The convention center was packed to the gills with slick booths featuring flat screen TVs and little cups of Café Britt-brand coffee. Some 150 internation"

Labels: central america, costa rica, costa rica real estate, costarica, san jose, travel