Spend any amount of time in Costa Rica and youwill become quite familiar with the country’s motto: pura vida. Translated as “pure life,” this daily mantra depicts a relaxed, optimistic and grateful lifestyle. It is a way of saying hello, goodbye or even thank you. It captures the national character of resilience, peace and cherishing life’s simple, joyful moments. With its focus on sustainability, biodiversity, wellness and peace, Costa Rica can be euphemistically named “the responsible sibling of the Central American family.”

Not only for the locals or just depicted on random items in a souvenir shop, pura vida can also apply to the business side of life in exotic Costa Rica. MICE spaces here are unique both for their attention to sustainable practices (Costa Rica stands with world leaders in this category) and for the overall scenery in this relatively small country. Ranking around No. 127 in the world in terms of size, it covers only 0.03 percent of the planet’s surface.

Approximately one-third of Costa Rica’s population lives in San José, so, appropriately, Costa Rica Convention Center lies just outside the capital city, a convenient 10-minute car ride from Juan Santamaría International Airport. This one-stop site for most meetings and events opened in April 2018. The $35 million, 15,600-square-foot facility maintains Costa Rican integrity through its sustainable practices and eco-friendly infrastructure. With room capacities of 10 to 3,038 people, the convention center addresses the needs of diverse groups, all within modern spaces. The meeting, conference and exhibition spaces feature naturally lit interiors and internal and external LED lighting, as well as water systems heated with solar panels. The property offers external parking for 1,000 vehicles, 40 buses and 80 minibuses. Each of the nine halls can accommodate groups of different sizes, from 40 to 4,000.

Pacuare meeting room © JW Marriott Guanacaste Beach Resort

For a venue combining all types of events with the tropical grandeur of Costa Rica, planners might select JW Marriott Guanacaste Beach Resort. It’s a bit remote; you must fly into Guanacaste Airport in Liberia and then handle the 45-minute drive to the resort. Upon arrival, you might easily forget the reason you journeyed there. From the serene escape of the welcoming accommodations to handcrafted cocktails to blazing sunsets, JW Marriott Guanacaste provides the perfect panorama for business meetings and the memorable scenery for special events. Weddings often take center stage since there is nothing more romantic than vows spoken in harmony with the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean.

No matter where visitors plan their business meetings and events, Costa Rica provides a wealth of interactive and immersive incentive experiences. The country, known for its robust coffee culture, boasts the perfect climate and elevation for growing the beans. A tour of one of the coffee farms would certainly percolate interest in any visiting group. Café Bitt’s 90-minute educational experiences include tastings and audience participation as well as entertaining tour guides.

Hacienda Doka and El Toledo Organic Coffee Farm both offer similar experiences; however, like the coffee itself, each is consistently pleasing yet with subtle differences.

If business travelers seek a much hotter incentive, avolcano tour makes for a memorable trip. A Poás Volcano tour, offered by several companies, brings visitors up close to an active volcano where sulfur smoke permeates the air. This active volcano stands 8,848 feet high with a crater nearly a mile across. It has erupted 40 times since 1828, with the last significant eruption occurring in 2017. Damage can still be seen along the trails and cement stairs. So, like any business, reward usually carries with it some amount of risk. In reality, a visit to Poás is quite safe. However, plan your visit in advance to be sure the trails are open.

Poás Volcano © Michael Alpiner

In 2026 Costa Rica firmly establishes itself as a premier global hub for MICE by seamlessly blending state-of-the-art infrastructure with its world-renowned pura vida philosophy. The destination offers a rare value proposition for corporate planners: the ability to host high-level strategy sessions in world-class facilities, such as the sustainable Costa Rica Convention Center, followed immediately by transformative team-building experiences in nature.

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Renowned for having the lushest and most animal-rich jungles in all of Central America, Costa Rica, through its signature reputation for eco-friendly and sustainable tourism, offers business people who thrive in the concrete jungle a way to augment their meetings within a true, untamed jungle.

Costa Rica’s MICE Forest sustainability initiative is designed to offset the carbon footprint of meetings and events through forest restoration. The initiative encourages event planners to contribute to Costa Rica’s leadership in sustainable practices in the region, specifically by targeting carbon emissions generated by international flights and event operations. The program also offers a way companies can market themselves as supportive of hardcore sustainability efforts as they combine their productive meeting and event hours with quality time “giving back” to the planet.

The business at hand takes place alongside natural regeneration practices that replace traditional tree planting while restoring a mature dry forest ecosystem. Horizontes Forest Experimental Station in Guanacaste is the primary site, managed in a partnership between the Costa Rican Tourism Institute and the National Forestry Financing Fund. Integrating the MICE Forest into an event plan allows companies to align their corporate gatherings with Costa Rica’s national goal of carbon neutrality and pura vida values.