This Privacy Statement discloses the information privacy practices for the Costa Rican Tourism Board's ("Visitcostarica.com") website, www.visitcostarica.com.

Information collected about you
Visitcostarica.com collects personal information ("PI") about you that you specifically and voluntarily provide. PI includes information that can identify you as a specific individual, such as your name, phone number, or e-mail address. Although you are required to register as a member of Visitcostarica.com in order to use selected travel planning tools, and some PI is needed in order to process and fulfill travel requests, many areas of Visitcostarica.com can be accessed without providing any PI.

On all Visitcostarica.com pages that collect PI, we specifically describe what information is required in order to provide you with the product or service you have requested.

Visitcostarica.com collects PI when you:

· Become an Visitcostarica.com member
· Complete a traveler profile
· Purchase travel
· Participate in a survey, contest, or sweepstakes
· Contact Visitcostarica.com

Member information
Visitcostarica.com collects your Member ID, password, and e-mail address when you register to become a member of our Web site.

Traveler profile information
Visitcostarica.com collects the full name and contact number for a traveler when a travel reservation is made. We may also collect information about each traveler's preferences, including meal requests, seat selection, frequent flyer/hotel/car rental programs and membership numbers, and ticketing options.

When someone other than yourself is accompanying you on travel purchased through Visitcostarica.com, we may collect PI and travel preferences about that individual. You should obtain the consent of other individuals prior to providing Visitcostarica.com with their full names, contact numbers, e-mail addresses, and travel preferences, as they will be unable to directly access our systems to view or change any information you provide on their behalf.

Surveys, contests, and sweepstakes information
Occasionally, Visitcostarica.com may offer our members and site visitors an opportunity to participate in a survey, contest, or sweepstakes. Information collected by Visitcostarica.com when you participate in a survey, contest, or sweepstakes may include your full name, e-mail address, and street address.

Contacting Visitcostarica.com
Visitcostarica.com collects PI such as your full name, Member ID, e-mail address, and/or contact number whenever you submit a question or suggestion, or request assistance with viewing your itinerary, logging on to Visitcostarica.com, or accessing your account.

Our partners
Visitcostarica.com has partnered with reputable third parties to offer our members and site visitors a variety of products and services. All travel services throughout Visitcostarica.com that are provided by a third-party partner are described as such. Although we only work with reputable third parties, our business partners may have different privacy policies and practices than Visitcostarica.com. We encourage you to review our business partners' privacy policies to further understand their procedures for collecting, using, and disclosing your information.

Other information we collect
Some information is collected automatically every time you visit Visitcostarica.com (e.g., cookies and computer information). In addition, information may be collected from other independent, third-party sources.

Cookies and other Web technologies
When you visit Visitcostarica.com we collect information about your computer and assign you a "cookie" (a small, unique identifier text file). You do not provide this information-it is collected automatically as a means of supporting your visit to our site. This cookie does not contain any PI. You can always choose to not receive a cookie file by enabling your Web browser to refuse cookies or prompt you before accepting a cookie. Be advised that, by refusing to accept a cookie, you will not be able to access many travel services and planning tools offered by Visitcostarica.com.

A cookie file may also be placed on your hard drive by Visitcostarica.com's third-party advertising companies. These companies may use aggregated statistics about your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about travel-related goods and services that you may be interested in. The information they collect does not include your PI.

Computer information
Visitcostarica.com collects certain technical information from your computer each time you request a page during a visit to Visitcostarica.com. This information is collected from your computer's Web browser to enhance your experience on our site and may include your IP address, operating system, Web browser software (i.e., Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer), screen resolution, and referrer Web site.

Information from other sources
To improve services and enhance personalization, we may periodically obtain information about you from other independent third-party sources and add it to our account information. Additionally, authorized Visitcostarica.com personnel may update your profile to accurately reflect any new profile information included in communications received from you.

Use of your information
Information collected on Visitcostarica.com may be used to:
· Register you as an Visitcostarica.com member
· Plan and purchase travel
· Send e-mail notifications for special promotions
· Respond to your questions or suggestions
· Improve the quality of your visit to our site

Member registration information
When you register to become a member of Visitcostarica.com, we use your information to create your member account. You will then receive a "Welcome to Visitcostarica.com" e-mail that contains your Member ID and describes the benefits of using Visitcostarica.com for planning and purchasing your travel needs.

Travel planning and purchase
Information collected when you complete your traveler profile is used to confirm and process your travel reservation. In addition, information collected from you when you purchase travel is used to bill your credit card and deliver your travel itinerary, either electronically or through the mail.

E-mail notifications
As a registered Visitcostarica.com member, you can receive e-mails about special promotions, surveys, contests, sweepstakes, flight specials, trip information, or other travel opportunities on Visitcostarica.com and its marketing partners. If you choose to receive our service, your e-mail address will also be used to notify you of current fares to cities you have selected. We may also use your e-mail address or telephone number to contact you about changes to your purchased travel itinerary.

Responses to your questions or suggestions
We will use your e-mail address or telephone number to respond when you submit a question or suggestion, or request assistance with viewing your itinerary, logging on to Visitcostarica.com, or accessing your account.

Improving the quality of your visit to our site
We collect certain information (e.g., travel information) based on your navigation of our site in order to better understand and serve our customers. This data allows us to streamline your ability to navigate the site and develop featured programs and content that will be of interest to our members and site visitors. No PI is collected unless you explicitly provide it.
This information can also be used to display targeted advertisements. Advertisement information is taken from data you explicitly provide on the Visitcostarica.com Web site, such as a flight origin or destination. No PI is used to deliver targeted advertisements.

Sharing your information
Visitcostarica.com does not sell or rent your PI to anyone.
Service providers
To provide and process the services you request, Visitcostarica.com shares your PI with our authorized service providers that perform certain services or functions on our behalf. We only share information about travel either reserved or purchased on Visitcostarica.com. Our service providers need information about your traveler profile, as well as your credit card information, to process and confirm your travel reservation. These service providers will disclose information about your traveler profile to hotel, airline, cruise, and/or rental car suppliers whose products you have purchased. Like any other travel agent, this information must be shared with our travel suppliers to confirm your reservation and travel preferences. Although Visitcostarica.com offers travel products from hotel, airline, cruise, and rental car suppliers that are reputable companies, we have not placed limitations on these suppliers from using or disclosing your information without your permission. Therefore, we encourage you to review the information privacy practices of any travel suppliers whose products you purchase on Visitcostarica.com. In addition, these travel suppliers may also contact you as necessary to obtain additional information about your confirmed reservation.

Visitcostarica.com will occasionally share aggregated information with our service providers. This information does not contain any PI and is used to develop featured programs and content that will be of interest to our members and site visitors.

In the event that you make a new, or update an existing, travel reservation by calling our toll-free number, your information may be accessed by a third-party service provider, as necessary, to respond to your request for customer service.

Visitcostarica.com may contract a reputable third party to facilitate the distribution of survey, promotion, or sweepstakes programs. Upon completion of these projects, all information is returned to Visitcostarica.com.

Trusted business partners
In addition, we have partnered with various third-party Web sites to offer Visitcostarica.com travel services. These trusted third-party companies have added travel sections to their Web sites in order to offer Visitcostarica.com provided travel services.

Our obligations
Visitcostarica.com may be required by law to disclose information you have provided in obtaining our travel products or services. Visitcostarica.com may also disclose information against someone who poses a threat to Visitcostarica.com's interests (such as customer fraud) or whose activities could bring harm to others. In addition, it may be necessary for Visitcostarica.com to provide customer information to third parties, such as credit card companies, for the purpose of resolving disputes that arise in the normal course of business.

Other Web sites
There are several places throughout Visitcostarica.com that may link you to other Web sites that do not operate under Visitcostarica.com's information privacy practices. When you click through to these Web sites, Visitcostarica.com's information privacy practices no longer apply. We recommend that you examine the privacy statements for all third-party Web sites to understand their procedures for collecting, using, and disclosing your information.

Communications from Visitcostarica.com
Members will receive communications from Visitcostarica.com when they:
· Sign up to become an Visitcostarica.com member
· Purchase travel
· Win a contest or sweepstakes
· Contact Visitcostarica.com with questions/suggestions
Sign up to become an Visitcostarica.com member
When you sign up as a new Visitcostarica.com member, you will receive a "Welcome to Visitcostarica.com" e-mail. This e-mail contains your Member ID and describes the benefits of using Visitcostarica.com for planning and purchasing your travel needs.

Purchase travel
Each time you purchase travel through Visitcostarica.com, or change or cancel a confirmed travel reservation, you will receive confirmation of your travel itinerary via e-mail. In the event that your travel plans are disrupted because of mechanical, weather, or carrier business conditions, Visitcostarica.com may contact you to inform you of these disruptions and help you make alternative travel arrangements.

Elect to receive fare alerts or other special promotional marketing communications
As a registered Visitcostarica.com member, you will occasionally receive e-mails notifying you of special promotions or other travel news. Special promotional e-mails are intended to inform you of new or unique travel opportunities or special deals that are available on Visitcostarica.com. If you have purchased travel services, you may also receive a Trip Guide e-mail that provides information about your destination, such as weather conditions, current events, or items of interest. You can opt out of your subscription to Visitcostarica.com's promotional e-mail services at any time.

Request customer support or submit questions/suggestions
When you request assistance with viewing your itinerary, logging on to the Visitcostarica.com Web site, or accessing your account, we will respond to you via e-mail or telephone.

Changes to the Visitcostarica.com Privacy Statement
This Privacy Statement was produced and posted on Visitcostarica.com on December 1, 2002. Visitcostarica.com reserves the right to modify or amend this Privacy Statement at any time and for any reason. If there are material changes to this statement or in how Visitcostarica.com will use your PI, Visitcostarica.com will prominently post such changes prior to implementing the change.
Regardless of later updates, we will abide by the information privacy practices described in this Privacy Statement at the time you provided us with your information.
If you have questions about our Privacy Statement, please e-mail us.

Notice about Booking Engine on Visitcostarica.com
The booking engine on Visitcostarica.com is provided by a trusted third party, Despegar.com, Inc. The Costa Rican Tourism Board, does not assume any responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained in this booking engine.

Copyright Information
All content on this site (texts, photos, diagrams, etc.) is the property of the Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT), and may not be reproduced - in any form - without the express written consent of the ICT,