Costa Rica: Behind the Scenes Launching a New Destination

Having put the finishing touches on the latest destination to join the Discover the World growing collection – Costa Rica – we’ve taken a behind the scenes peak at what goes in to launching a new holiday programme. Head of Product, Liz, is an old hand at researching new holidays, having previously set up our Australia, Canada and Alaska programmes from scratch. She explains what goes into the process…

Q. Why Costa Rica?

DTW has a long tradition of specialising in destinations that are rich in wildlife and wilderness experiences, exploring our natural world and learning as we travel. Costa Rica is somewhere our regular clients often ask for and it fits the DTW portfolio perfectly with a wealth of natural attractions – from volcanoes to mangroves, and coral reefs to cloud forests. Its astonishing biodiversity and abundant wildlife are fiercely protected with strong ecotourism credentials. Costa Rica also offers a safe and welcoming introduction to Latin America’s colourful culture, so it was more a question of when, not if, we would add this incredible destination to our portfolio.

Q. There’s a lot of places to go and things to do in Costa Rica, how to do you select what to include?

40 years of listening to our clients helps us understand what type of activity or style of accommodation is likely to appeal most – we look for authentic experiences, small groups, independent guesthouses and local operators that can educate our travellers and ensure they get the most out of their time in Costa Rica. We hand-pick our hotels by visiting as many as possible to check the service, quality and locations and we also have the enviable job of experiencing some of our guided activities to make sure they meet our high expectations. We also attended a trade show in Costa Rica which was a great opportunity to meet a number of local suppliers over two days, getting to know key contacts and learning about what they offer and how they operate.

Q. What are you looking for in a local partner?

We spent a lot of time researching potential partners on the ground in Costa Rica – this is an essential part of what we offer as it means our travellers have 24/7 support in the same time zone, fluent in both English and Spanish, to provide support and assistance as needed throughout their holiday. In addition, it gives us access to a wide range of hotels and activities to ensure we can tailor every holiday to suit your own individual requirements. The partner we selected shares our company values and service aspirations so we are confident our travellers will be in safe hands.

Q. Costa Rica has a strong conservation ethos, how does this balance with tourism?

It’s by learning more about our natural world that we can do more to protect it, and tourism done well can help provide much-needed funding for conservation projects. Costa Rica is at the forefront of sustainable travel and our new partner has achieved the highest ELITE level Tourism Sustainability Certification from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute, recognized by the World Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). Our shared goal is to deliver holidays that educate and contribute to conservation and community projects, and to sustainable development. We encourage our travellers to give back to the destination, whether that’s by planting a tree in the rainforest, championing local guides, taking part in educational eco-tourism experiences, or contributing to research funding through entry fees to reserves and parks.

Q. You’ve set up Canada, Alaska and Australia programmes for DTW, what is the biggest challenge and what is the most fun?

The biggest challenge is coordinating all the different elements and making sure deadlines are met – as well as selecting the featured product and pulling together our suggested itineraries, there’s a wealth of content to create for our website, images to source, rates to negotiate and load, contracts to sign, travel documentation to write up, marketing materials to produce such as our new digital magazine, and running training sessions for the wider team. We also arrange familiarisation trips for our Travel Specialists to ensure they have first-hand experience of all our key featured products. So, it’s a huge task to pull it all together, but I really enjoy the challenge. My favourite parts are of course travelling to the destinations and meeting new contacts, and also the creative side of writing the website pages, magazine and blogs.

Q. Can you outline the steps we take to ensure health and safety for our clients?

We utilise the services of a specialist travel industry safety consultancy who carry out extensive auditing across Costa Rica, and all our core destinations. Each property or supplier is checked and reviewed, and any concerns are raised and monitored until they’ve been resolved to meet safety requirements. If they do not approve a particular hotel then we will not include it in our programme. We also work closely with our partners on the ground to ensure they have all the necessary licenses and insurance policies in place, and our own staff will carry out spot-check audits in destination too.

Q. And finally, Costa Rica is such an exciting and diverse destination. What were the highlights of your recent trip?

It was a very brief trip so perhaps the biggest highlight was just how much we managed to see and do in such a short space of time – there really is wildlife everywhere! Undoubtedly one of my favourite experiences was lying awake listening to howler monkeys roaring through the jungle; it’s such an incredible spine-tingling sound. I also loved spotting iguanas, bats, monkeys and countless birds as we kayaked down the Rio Tres Amigos, hiking at Arenal as the volcano disappeared and reappeared from the clouds, and taking in spectacular aerial views of the Pacific Coast from my flight to the Osa Peninsula. And brushing off my rusty language skills and chatting to the locals was fun too – fortunately most Costa Ricans speak good English, but they were happy to indulge my basic Spanish!

Start planning your trip

Our new itineraries are packed full of adventure. Hard work, attention to detail and lots of fun has gone into creating trips that we know you’re going to love. Take a look at what to expect with our video below…

Get in touch with our Travel Specialists today on 01737 214 250 or send an enquiry.