Photo Credit: Irina Shayk Instagram

Sam Smith, Neil Patrick Harris, Chris Martin (Coldplay) and his girlfriend Dakota Johnson, Gina Rodríguez, Christian Bale and Irina Shayk are just some of the celebrities that chose Costa Rica as their vacation destination this December and not only does this mean they spent money in the country benefiting local businesses, but they also help put the name of the country out there for millions of followers to see.

Costa Rica being a small country in Central America is often confused with Puerto Rico, many also think it’s an island. This type of free publicity is ideal for a country where today the tourism industry is the main economic activity.

“We consider that the social media posts are very relevant and in the past few days we have received nine celebrities, if we gather all their followers we can reach close to 80 million people”, commented Ireth Rodríguez from the Costa Rican Tourism Board in an interview with Teletica news.

The fact that this publicity is generated organically is even better, since the country does not have to invest in expensive campaigns to reach a large audience, it is also a lot more interesting for the audience when they are hearing about a vacation destination from a source they trust and not a random ad. The only downside is the short life of this type of publicity.

According to data shared during the conference “Google Think Tourism 2019” carried out in December, Costa Rica is the third tourism destination most searched by Europeans, and the fourth in the list of Central American and Caribbean countries that generates most interest among Americans and Canadians.

“The interest of Americans to travel to Latin America continues to grow by 75% from one year to the next. In Canada the interest grew by 73%, in UK a 71% and in Spain an 86%”, revealed Giovanni Stella, Google Manager for Central America and the Caribbean.