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Costa Rica’s best prospects are experienced international travelers. For instance, 7 in 10 (69.9%) have been to the Caribbean at least once in their lives, and nearly as many (65.3%) have been to Mexico. Nearly 4 in 10 (38.4%) have been to Central America, and 23.1% have been to Costa Rica.
In fact, many of Costa Rica’s best prospects are frequent visitors to nearby warm-weather destinations. Nearly a third (32.2%) took two or more vacation/pleasure trips to Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean, or Bermuda in the past three years; 15.6% took three or more trips. Moreover, 74.8% agree in some measure with the statement “I try to take at least one warm-weather trip each year.”
Knowledge and Perceptions of Costa Rica
For the most part, Costa Rica’s best prospects claim to have a good understanding of what Costa Rica has to offer as a tourist destination. Only 20.1% say that the statement “A place that I know very little about” extremely or very much describes Cost Rica. More than 7 in 10 best prospects say that Costa Rica is a place they can picture themselves being. Moreover, Costa Rica has high salience among its best prospects; nearly 8 in 10 (78.3%) say they have considered visiting Cost Rica.
Costa Rica’s best prospects strongly identify Costa Rica with ecotourism. Nearly three-quarters (74.0%) say that the phrase “Has one of the richest varieties of flora and fauna in the world” extremely or very much describes Costa Rica. Costa Rica is also widely perceived as being friendly and welcoming to visitors and as being serene and peaceful.
However, perceptions of Costa Rica are not as strong as they could be on a number of important dimensions. For instance, fewer than half of Costa Rica’s best prospects perceive Costa Rica to be an affordable place to visit (43.2%), a safe country in which to travel (43.2%), or easy to get to (42.6%). There are no appreciable differences among provinces in the degree to which Costa Rica is thought to be easy to get to.
Best prospects are least certain about Costa Rica’s tourism infrastructure; only about a third believe that the phrases “A place with all the creature comforts” and “Easy to get around in for independent travelers” extremely or very much describe Costa Rica. The vast majority of Costa Rica’s best prospects (88.0%) agree in some measure with the statement “I am inclined to visit a county that practices sustainable tourism”; 43.6% agree strongly or mostly. However, fewer than half of Costa Rica’s best prospects (45.8%) believe that the statement “Practices sustainable tourism” extremely or very much describes Costa Rica. Costa Rica’s strong commitment to sustainable tourism needs to be communicated more forcefully to Canadians.
Costa Rica’s best prospects overwhelmingly associate sustainable tourism with “Protection of the social, cultural, and economic structure of the country” and with “Responsible management of natural resources.” To a slightly lesser degree, they also associate sustainable tourism with “Improvement of the quality of life of the local community”.
Best prospects for Costa Rica are most likely to imagine a vacation in Costa Rica to resemble one in neighboring Panama (18.2%). They are second most likely to equate a vacation in Costa Rica with one in Peru.
Response to the statement “a vacation in Costa Rica would be most like a vacation in…” (Best Prospects for Costa Rica)
Panama - 18.2%
Peru - 12.8%
Dominican Republic - 11.9%
Mexico - 11.2%
The Caribbean - 10.9%
Hawaii - 5.5%
New Zealand - 4.2%
Cuba - 4.0%
Australia - 2.2%
Have no idea - 19.0%
Costa Rica’s best prospects are also somewhat likely to equate a vacation in Costa Rica with one in the Caribbean (especially the Dominican Republic) or in Mexico. However, despite the common focus on nature that Costa Rica shares with New Zealand and Australia, comparatively few travelers associate Costa Rica with these two countries.
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