Why Costa Rica?

In 1988 Dr. Oscar Arias Sanchez, Costa Rica's president at the time, won the Nobel Peace Prize for his leading role in the international effort to end civil wars that had plagued neighboring Central American countries for decades. Since then, the eyes of the adventurer and world traveler have turned to this peaceful, unusually democratic Central American country of less than 5 million persons. Although visitors were initially lured by the exotic wildlife found within its rainforests, its beautiful jungle-lined beaches and thundering, active volcanoes, it was governmental stability and its amicable population that truly captured the hearts and imaginations of its foreign visitors. These combined determining factors still make Costa Rica an excellent tropical destination for almost any type of travel.

Wide Variety of Attractions

Costa Rica protects over 30% of its national territory including national parks and privately-protected areas. As tourism-based business boomed in the 1990's, many innovative tourism attractions were developed to showcase this ample range of natural settings. These attractions include activities such as whitewater rafting, canopy tours, natural history tours, hot springs resorts, fishing trips, scuba diving and much more. These tour options give visitors a wide variety of things to do for all interests and ages. Today many new attractions have been developed including agro-tours, canyoning, adventure races, ATV tours and others. The possibility of combining several destinations together with an array of these adventure and cultural activities all within a 8 or 15 day visit makes Costa Rica a top exotic tropical destinations in the world.

Quality

Along with the development of tours and attractions, Costa Rica has also excelled in the quality of the services offered to visitors. Highly motivated 'ticos' with a strong international influence have come together to create a plethora of industry-related products including one-of-kind lodging establishments, inter-destination domestic flights and the creation of a variety of associations that insures travelers a specific standard of quality or commitment to sustainable tourism.