The San José Declaration Sets Out Seven Priorities for Destination Competitiveness
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7th Oct, 2026
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At FIEXPO Latin America 2026 in San José, Costa Rica, convention bureaux, venues and destination leaders examined the barriers they face in attracting international events and the actions they can take to address them. Discussions and survey findings from the Forum of Latin American Destinations, created and led by Juan José García, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at Bco Congresos, and Santiago González, Director of MICE Consulting, led to the creation of the San José Declaration. The document sets out seven commitments designed to strengthen destination competitiveness and track progress over time.
The Forum’s panel brought together Martin Boyle, CEO of the International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO), Eduardo Chaillo, General Manager for Latin America at Maritz, Annette Gregg, former CEO of the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE), Dennis Speet, General Director of Amsterdam Convention Bureau, and Christoph Tessmar, Director of Barcelona Convention Bureau at Turisme de Barcelona. They shared real-life examples and strategies used by their organisations, giving participants practical reference points for examining their own challenges. Collaborative exercises and participant input also informed the findings recorded in the Declaration.
The document sets out seven commitments to strengthen destination competitiveness and track progress. Juan José García, who steered the initiative alongside González, talks to HQ about missed opportunities and why its lessons apply outside Latin America and the Caribbean.
Based on the survey responses and discussions, what were the most common barriers, growth opportunities and recurring concerns across the region?
Recurring barriers included fragmentation between institutions, businesses and other destination stakeholders, a lack of continuity following political, leadership or budgetary changes, unpredictable funding, and gaps in data, customer relationship management (CRM), market research and the ability to turn information into decisions.
Growth opportunities included taking a more proactive approach to attracting international events by identifying sectors, associations and rotation cycles before bids are opened. Participants also saw opportunities to connect events with a destination’s knowledge base, universities, economic sectors and professional communities, develop active ambassador communities, professionalise teams and strengthen regional cooperation through shared intelligence, methodologies and training.
A central concern was how to sustain long-term international strategies with stable resources. Participants also discussed how to demonstrate the value of events through legacy, innovation, talent, investment, sustainability, inclusion and reputation, alongside economic impact, and how to ensure the Forum’s agreements lead to action through metrics, follow-up and institutional memory.
Competitiveness depends on stable public-private governance, market intelligence, professional expertise and the ability to sustain a strategy over time.
The discussions suggested that how destinations diagnose their challenges often shapes the solutions they pursue. What did the Forum reveal about how destinations are interpreting their biggest obstacles, and where are they missing opportunities to see the bigger picture?
Budget, connectivity and infrastructure limitations form part of a broader question of governance, strategy and the ability to deliver. Infrastructure remains essential, but differentiation increasingly comes from a value proposition connected to a destination’s economic sectors, universities, knowledge base and professional communities. Budget constraints also highlight the need for stable funding and strategies capable of surviving political and leadership cycles.
There is also considerable scope to turn data and contacts into intelligence that can be used to prioritise markets, anticipate bids and measure results. Ambassador programmes need to function as genuine communities, supported by professional teams, while cooperation between destinations can provide access to shared knowledge, tools and training.
Each destination has to adapt these elements to its own circumstances, supported by shared objectives, public-private collaboration and continuous follow-up.
You encouraged participants to focus on what destinations can influence directly. Why do some of these opportunities remain underused, and where should destinations looking to make progress start?
Many of these initiatives require sustained coordination between stakeholders that often work in a fragmented way. Universities, hospitals, clusters, businesses, public authorities and convention bureaux may share interests, but they do not always share objectives, information, resources or a stable structure for working together. Political and leadership turnover, short-term budgets, small teams and a tendency to react when a bid appears also add to the difficulty.
An ambassador programme, for example, requires identifying people with credibility and influence, supporting them, facilitating their participation and recognising their contribution. Sector partnerships generate results when they are connected to the destination’s priorities and to a specific strategy for attracting international events.
Destinations can begin by assessing which sectors, institutions and local leaders can contribute knowledge, reputation or the ability to attract international communities. From there, they can establish a public-private governance structure with clear responsibilities, select a limited number of priority markets or opportunities, create a basic system for sharing information and measuring results, and communicate the value of events through legacy, innovation, talent, investment and social impact, as well as economic return.
Relationships, intelligence and cooperation need to be developed before a formal opportunity arises.
“A destination’s competitiveness no longer depends solely on its infrastructure, but on its ability to build partnerships,
anticipate opportunities and turn local assets into an internationally relevant value proposition.” Juan José García
Many of the issues discussed ultimately came back to people. What skills do convention bureau teams most need to strengthen, particularly in advocacy, communication and stakeholder engagement?
Convention bureau teams need to combine knowledge of the meetings and events industry with capabilities that allow them to connect different interests and turn strategy into results.
In communication, they need to explain the value of events through their contribution to knowledge, innovation, international reputation, talent and investment attraction, sustainability, inclusion and legacy. Clear narratives also need to be adapted to policymakers, businesses, associations, academia and local communities.
In advocacy, a critical capability is evidence-based influence: interpreting data, identifying shared priorities and translating them into arguments that can help secure resources, institutional continuity and political support. Advocacy involves demonstrating why a sustained strategy for attracting international events benefits the destination.
Stakeholder management requires professionals to identify and engage local leaders, universities, hospitals, clusters and professional communities, build trusted relationships, align expectations and support ambassadors so they can participate in genuine opportunities. Teams also need market intelligence, the ability to anticipate bids, develop differentiated value propositions, manage complex projects and measure results.
Convention bureau professionals increasingly combine the roles of strategist, communicator, partnership facilitator and intelligence manager, connecting local stakeholders with international opportunities over the long term.
Destinations already have access to data, training and industry tools such as International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) Business Intelligence. Is there still a gap between having these resources and applying them effectively?
There is still a significant gap between accessing knowledge and applying it systematically. Many destinations already have data, contacts, training programmes and tools such as ICCA Business Intelligence, but their value comes from using them to make decisions: prioritising markets, identifying opportunities before they become formal, allocating resources, preparing bids and measuring results.
The difficulty is often organisational. Data remain fragmented and are not integrated into commercial or strategic processes, while learning from courses, certifications or professional networks does not always translate into new working practices. Institutional discontinuity and a lack of specialised teams can also result in accumulated knowledge being lost.
Destinations should define which decisions they want to improve and connect each tool to a specific responsibility. ICCA Business Intelligence, for example, is most useful when it feeds into market intelligence, ambassador engagement and bid planning.
Teams need the capability and discipline to interpret information, share it with stakeholders and apply it consistently.
What are the most important commitments in the San José Declaration, and why are they relevant to destinations outside Latin America and the Caribbean?
The San José Declaration offers a roadmap with relevance outside Latin America and the Caribbean because it establishes common principles that destinations can adapt to their own circumstances.
Among its main commitments and recommendations are:
- establishing stable public-private governance, with clearly defined leadership, responsibilities, objectives and resources, while protecting the continuity of strategies for attracting international events from political, budgetary or leadership changes
- turning data into intelligence to prioritise markets, anticipate opportunities, measure results and support continuous learning
- developing a proactive strategy that identifies sectors, associations, rotation cycles and local leaders before bids are opened
- developing active ambassador communities connected to universities, professional communities and strategic sectors
- securing predictable funding and professional teams capable of researching markets, developing bids, managing relationships and using new technologies
- measuring the full value of events, including knowledge, innovation, reputation, talent, investment, social impact, sustainability, inclusion, accessibility and legacy alongside economic contribution, with verifiable commitments, indicators, periodic review and institutional memory to track progress
- strengthening cooperation between destinations through the exchange of methodologies, intelligence, training, tools and successful case studies.
The central message is transferable: destination competitiveness depends on the ability to bring local stakeholders together, sustain a long-term strategy and demonstrate the wider value generated by events.
“The real challenge is not having more data or contacts, but turning them into intelligence,
collaboration and sustained strategies that create legacy.” Juan José García
Tracking Destination Progress in Latin America and the Caribbean
Destinations can use the Declaration’s seven commitments to assess how they attract and develop international events, identify gaps and decide where to concentrate their resources. From 2027, the proposed Pulso Latinoamericano de Destinos, coordinated through FIEXPO Latin America’s Forum, would provide a structured way to track those improvements.
An initial self-assessment would establish each destination’s starting point. Teams could then select achievable priorities and targets suited to their resources and circumstances. Where sufficient information exists, data from 2026 could help establish the baseline. Destinations without measurement systems could begin by defining what information they need and who will collect it.
The suggested indicators give teams specific measures to work with: clear decision-making responsibilities, continuity in destination strategy, bids generated through ambassador communities and funding secured across several years. Reviewing that evidence would help identify where coordination is failing, which activities are producing opportunities and what training or investment is needed.
Figures would be considered alongside evidence of institutional changes, strategies implemented and lessons from individual cases. Shared findings could inform regional training and cooperation, while each destination’s progress would be assessed against its own baseline. Participation would be voluntary and open to public authorities, convention bureaux, venues, associations, universities and businesses.
An annual San José Review would examine what has advanced, why some measures have stalled and which priorities need adjusting. Destinations interested in applying the Declaration can begin by choosing improvements they can act on, assigning responsibility and establishing a review schedule. The proposed 2027 monitoring would help teams review results regularly, adjust spending and training, and retain evidence and working practices when leadership or funding changes.
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