The Costa Rican Exports Promotion Agency (PROCOMER) commissioned Bloom Consulting together with PlaceMatters to evaluate the 'Esencial Costa Rica' Country Brand Strategy from a Tourism, Exports and Investment perspective. Furthermore, the client requested a comparison of Costa Rica’s relative performance against four selected competitor Countries. Moreover, an analysis of 20 selected target markets was made. In addition to the assessment of the Country Brand, Bloom Consulting and PlaceMatters were asked toprovide strategic recommendations for the Country’s Nation Branding strategy.
The research conducted using the Digital Demand - D2© software revealed that Costa Rica particularly stands out as a strong contender in the Tourism Dimension, where it has not only received a large number of searches compared to its competitors, but has also been experiencing high growth.
The analysis of Costa Rica’s positioning in the three most recent Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking© Tourism and Trade editions showed that the Country is clearly on the rise, both on a global and regional level (the Americas) in the Tourism edition. In the Trade edition, Costa Rica has been performing fairly well, but has very strong direct competitors.
Finally, a qualitative study performed with over 800 international tourists and businesspeople revealed that Costa Rica is perceived as the most appealing Tourism Destination among its competitors, and that these perceptions have been steadily improving over the past three years. Furthermore, international businesspeople believe that Costa Rica is a more appealing Country to do Business with than its competitors and that, again, these perceptions have strongly improved over the past three years.
