Costa Rica, traditionally regarded as a place of ‘sun and fun’, is positioning itself as a destination for international association meetings as it gears up for the opening of its first convention centre.

The 6,500 capacity Costa Rica Convention Center, in the capital San Jose, is scheduled to open in May, 2018, providing a new dimension to the country’s traditional meetings offer.  

Alexjandro Castro, director of marketing at Costa Rica Tourism Board, confirmed the destination had been working with the convention bureau to secure association meetings from Latin America.

Speaking to AMI magazine at the Barcelona-based meetings industry trade show ibtm world, he said: “Our strategy is to target regional association meetings, at this stage, as we think they are the most likely to come, and we already have an ambassador programme in place to help with that.

“Costa Rica has traditionally been associated with the corporate and incentive market. We have the beaches and the weather and it is a very playful destination. But one of our biggest exports last year, apart from agriculture, was medical devices, so there is more to Costa Rica than people think.”

He said the centre was also looking to secure governmental meetings.