Costa Rica to host the 2024 World Social Tourism Congress

29-12-23

Costa Rica was selected to host the World Congress of Social Tourism in October 2024, a decision taken unanimously by the Board of Directors of the Social Tourism Organization (ISTO), during a meeting held this morning in Brussels, Belgium.

The Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) presented the candidacy of our country to the ISTO Board of Directors, which unanimously approved the celebration of this event at the Costa Rica Convention Center, from October 23 to 25, 2024.

For Alberto Lopez, general manager of ICT, "the decision to select Costa Rica as the venue for the Congress is based on an active participation since 2015, including having hosted the 'Social Tourism Meeting of the Americas in 2019', the year in which the 'Social Tourism with Integrity Costa Rica' program was also launched, which this year evolved into a more robust program called 'Tourism for all people'. We believe that ISTO has valued Costa Rica's effort for almost a decade understanding, applying and evolving the concepts of social tourism in an effort to provide possibilities for populations with economic and physical limitations to enjoy the right to do tourism, as well as in the successful organization we had in 2019 of the 'Social Tourism Encounter of the Americas'," explained López.

The World Congress of Social Tourism is held every two years and so far there have been twenty-eight editions, of which five have been held in the Americas, distributed as follows: two in Quebec and one in Montreal, Canada; another in Mexico City and in Sao Paulo. 

In 2024, the first will be held in Central America and only the second outside North America.

The last time it was held in the American continent was in Brazil in 2014 and it was precisely at this congress that Costa Rica's first participation was held with the idea of evaluating the convenience of becoming a member of ISTO. The assessment was positive and since 2015, the ICT is an active partner of ISTO Americas and currently holds a position within the Board of Directors of ISTO Americas.

The World Congress on Social Tourism seeks to address the most relevant topics in the field, both in an effort to update the latest trends and to learn about successful cases in the presentation of programs that favor the possibility of exercising the right of all people to tourism.

At least 300 people from the three continents where ISTO is present are expected to attend the event in Costa Rica. A large number of representatives from the Americas are expected to participate, as well as Costa Rican organizations and companies that are currently part of the "Tourism for all people" program.

The International Social Tourism Organization (ISTO) was founded in 1963 and is celebrating its 60th anniversary. 

This organization bases its work on the themes of accessibility, fair trade, environment, solidarity and quality of life. In addition, it bases its objectives on "promoting the development of tourism for all and making vacations accessible to the greatest number of people (tourism for all) and on promoting and supporting tourism that is at the service of people, communities and territories, and is identified with terms such as responsible, solidarity, fair or community-based tourism (responsible tourism)".

It is present in 46 countries and has 179 member organizations, including the ICT and three more from Costa Rica: UNED, Red Costarricense de Turismo Accesible and Fundación Funcavida.