essential COSTA RICA named Place Brand of the Year at City Nation Place Awards in London

• Costa Rica received three honors: Place Brand of the Year, Best Citizen Engagement, and a Highly Commended distinction for Best Communication Strategy.
• essential COSTA RICA is the first country brand in the awards' history to receive the Place Brand of the Year distinction twice, following its first win in 2019.

LONDON, Nov. 6, 2026 — essential COSTA RICA was named Place Brand of the Year at the 2026 City Nation Place Awards. The country also received the Best Citizen Engagement award and was Highly Commended for Best Communication Strategy. Costa Rica competed alongside entries from Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and other countries.

The awards ceremony took place Thursday in London as part of the City Nation Place Global conference.

"These honors reflect how our country brand turns vision into action. Costa Rica's reputation can open doors for our products while bringing people closer to the efforts to protect nature that define our country. We make this possible by working with businesses, public institutions, communities and organizations that share this purpose. We are proud to accept these awards on behalf of Costa Rica," said Adriana Acosta, Director of the essential COSTA RICA country brand.

The initiatives that earned essential COSTA RICA these honors include:

• Place Brand of the Year: Recognizing the brand's work over the past year under its 2035 Strategy, which focuses on increasing preference for Costa Rican products in key markets and strengthening a sense of belonging among people in Costa Rica. First awarded the distinction in 2019, essential COSTA RICA is the first country brand in the awards' history to win it twice.
• Best Citizen Engagement: Recognizing the Costa Rica Azul campaign, a free, interactive platform that builds awareness of Costa Rica's marine territory and biodiversity.
• Highly Commended for Best Communication Strategy: Recognizing the Producers of Wellbeing campaign, which promoted Costa Rican agricultural products to consumers in Europe and Asia through a strategy tailored to each market. The initiative featured content on platforms including Prime Video, Fire TV and Alexa, in collaboration with Amazon Ads, and drew on cultural references such as anime to connect with audiences in Asia.

"Costa Rica, Place Brand of the Year, continues to strengthen its international reputation through strategic thinking and consistent, high-quality execution. The judges were impressed by the range of initiatives developed over the past year and their clear focus on building national identity through projects with the potential to create a legacy and sustained impact. These initiatives also show how a country brand can build positive perceptions to create opportunities in areas such as trade and sports. It is an ambitious and meaningful effort that demonstrates how a place brand can become a significant national asset," said Clare Dewhirst, founder and CEO of City Nation Place.

The three honors received Thursday added to essential COSTA RICA's record at the international awards. In 2022, the brand won Best Use of Design for Costa Rica's biometric passport. In 2024, it received a special mention for Best Use of Data for a strategy using artificial intelligence and data analytics.