We're in Costa Rica with Grupo Proimagen and the Costa Rican Tourism Board, where we've joined a dozen travel agents from Canada and the United States to discover the best of what the country has to offer .
During the one-week familiarization trip, travel agents will have the chance to explore the wonders of both the Pacific and the Caribbean, and this is what makes the trip unique, explained Silvia Vargas, president of Grupo Proimagen, a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote Costa Rica.
"We are very eco-touristic, Costa Rica is a country rich in culture and nature that has a lot to offer tourists. What makes us unique is that we are surrounded by two ribs; that of the Pacific and the Caribbean. Both have something very different to offer. The purpose of the trip is to discover the country beyond its beautiful beaches and large all-inclusive hotel chains located in Guanacaste, the most visited destination by Canadians. We have beautiful beaches, but also tropical forests, cloud forests, volcanoes and also the world's richest biodiversity, "said Vargas, who strongly recommends that tourists visit Arenal, Monteverde (which includes the only cloud forest in the country) and Tortuguero on the Caribbean coast and accessible only by boat or plane.
There are boutique hotels, five-star resorts and lodges on the program to introduce agents to the different types of hotels they can sell to their customers.
Exploration of Poas Volcano National Park
For their first day, the agents explored the active volcano of Poas, located in the national park of the same name, in the province of Alajuela. The most visited volcano in the country, it erupted in April 2017 and the park was closed for a year to tourists. The attraction is now reopened for six months.
Organized by the company Expediciones Tropicales, the excursion called Combo Tour includes a visit to the garden of La Paz Waterfall Garden, which contains sublime falls as well as a variety of exotic animals, such as toucans, red macaws (parrots) ), butterflies, monkeys and felines, as well as a visit to Doka Estate, Costa Rica's largest coffee plantation.
"This tour is very convenient, because people often do not have much time to visit the country, so it allows them to discover Costa Rica's culture quickly," said Sugey Arroyo, director of Expediciones Tropicales, a very well-known in Costa Rica, which offers, for 24 years, excursions in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama.
For their first night, the agents stayed at the five-star boutique hotel-boutique hotel, located about 30 minutes from downtown San Jose. We will come back to this hotel later in another article.
Keep reading this week to learn more about this Costa Rica familiarization trip!
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