COSTA RICA TOURIST BOARD

what’s new in costa ricaFRONTIER AIRLINES ADDS NEW ROUTE TO COSTA RICA’S LIBERIA AIRPORTIn an effort to expand its international offerings, Frontier Airlines has added a new route that will service travelers between the airline’s hubat Denver International Airport and Costa Rica’s Daniel Oduber International (LIR) in Liberia. The increase has come at a time when CostaRica has been heavily promoting itself within international markets creating a higher demand for these flights.The new flight from Denver, Colorado will be available beginning on February 13, 2011 with weekly nonstop flights to and from its hub atDenver International Airport. The A319 service from Denver to Liberia is scheduled for departure at 8:25 a.m. and time of arrival is at 2:35p.m.Liberia to Denver service is scheduled for departure at 3:25 p.m. and time of arrival is at 8.10 p.m. Frontier became the only airline to offerservice between Denver and Costa Rica when it launched its route to San Jose back in 2007.“The addition of this new route to Liberia from Denver is ideal for Costa Rica because it will offer more travel options to a market that is veryimportant to the growth of our tourism offering,” said Carlos Ricardo Benavides, Minister of Tourism. “Denver is abundant with travelersthat connect with Costa Rica’s core travel offerings - adventure and nature - and this new opportunity will help to make that relationshipstronger,” he added.For more information on Frontier’s flights to Costa Rica, please visit www.frontierairlines.comCOSTA RICA RECOGNIZED AS BEST PLACE TO VISIT SOLOCosta Rica came in first among the top ten places to travel solo, according to the ranking elaborated by the prestigious magazine Travel +Leisure.The magazine evaluated safety indexes by using the Global Peace Index and Happy Planet Index. The first index measures the peace level of149 countries, while the second measures the environmental impact and well-being of people in 143 countries around the world to determinewhich people are happier and live longer.“The country that came out as the safest and happiest in the world turned out to be the place where many Americans came to experienceadventure tourism for the first time,” said Travel + Leisure. “It is one of those rare countries without an army that adds new meaning to theterm ‘peaceful’ ” stated the magazine.The rest of the rankings included Vietnam, in second place; Laos and Bhutan, tied for third place; Malaysia came in fourth; Egypt andAustria, fifth; followed by Sweden, Tunisia, Germany, Holland and Switzerland, tied for ninth; and Chile filled out the top ten.Travel + Leisure magazine has a monthly readership of about 1,000,000 people. The majority of subscribers live in California, New York,and Florida. They also have influential markets in Mexico, Turkey, China, and Southern Asia.The Travel + Leisure ranking of the best places to visit can be found at the following link: http://www.travelandleisure.com/DESTINATION WEDDINGS DEPICTS MANUEL ANTONIO AS A WEDDING HAVENThe renown magazine ‘Destination Weddings & Honeymoons’ depicts a wedding between an American woman and a South African man inManuel Antonio, Costa Rica, in its September edition.The new copy of the magazine, on sale since August 17, published a 2-page article on the wedding between Kerry Bardwil and Richard Cokein the Tulemar Bungalows that took place last December 11, 2009.“Costa Rica was an incredible destination because of its diversity, beautiful beaches, tropical forests, magnificent animals and birds, as wellas the warmth of its people,” said Bardwil. “We stayed one month, but we could have stayed longer,” reports the magazine.Destination Weddings is a prestigious couples’ travel magazine that has been in circulation for the past five years. The magazine is publishedsix times a year and reaches 2.8 million people with its largest sales in Florida, New York, California, Illinois and Texas.COSTA RICAN SPAS AMONG INTERNATIONAL AWARD FINALISTSThree Costa Rican spas, among hundreds nominated, are listed as finalists in the recognized 2010 “Silver Sage Readers’ Choice Award”,conducted each year by Spa Magazine.Two of the finalists are located in Guanacaste and one in Alajuela. Among the nominated were JWMarriott Guanacaste Spa in Tamarindo;The Grand Spa and Tabacón Grand Spa Thermal Resort in Arenal, Alajuela; as well as the Four Seasons Resort’s Spa in the PapagayoPeninsula.The 2010 winners will be announced in the 2011 World Spa Guide found in Spa Magazine, which goes on sale in November.The Costa Rican Institute of Tourism congratulates the national spas that have reached this place of honor. We look forward to the readers’awards in Spa Magazine.2 of 6