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ARA Tours

About us

Founded in 1993 by Swiss partners, ARA Tours is a leading DMC that guarantees high-quality standards and specializes in original and sustainable travel solutions for individual visitors, small groups, and incentive travel both in Costa Rica and in neighboring countries such as Nicaragua and Panama. We offer 24/7 support. We have the highest degree of sustainability granted by the Costa Rican Institute of Tourism and the Safe Travels seal of the World Travel & Tourism Council which confirms that hygiene and health protocols are implemented and used.  ARA Tours has strategic alliances with carriers and a polyglot team that offers fast, accurate offers and personalized service with full support. Do you want to make your dream trip come true? This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ara macaw

Our Strenghts (USP)


We strongly believe that tour operators and travel agencies can successfully compete against OTAs and online booking platforms if they are able to deliver destination know-how, tailor-made products, personalized service and added values. Technology speeds up processes and makes our work more efficient, but at the end of the day, tourism is people business. Our business model is focusing on these needs, merging technology and personal service.

Latinconnect

Here are our strengths

  • We are a solid and stable company, which has managed to maintain itself and assist our clients during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
  • Our solidity allowed us to meet the financial commitments for our suppliers and collaborators.
  • We have hygiene and health protocols to ensure the health safety of our customers.
  • Liability insurance.
  • Multilingual Customer Experience Team - Assisting you with all your needs.
  • Expert country and product knowledge - Directly from the destination and always up to date.
  • Regular destination virtual trainings.
  • Rapid response times.
  • Very diverse and flexible product - You will find the right product for all type of clients.
  • Specialized products for niches - Biking, hiking, golf, birding, barrier-free traveling, wellness.
  • Participation in the most important Travel Trade Shows.
  • All products online on Latinconnect.com - Structured content such as texts, pictures, videos and rates.
  • Brochure page generator on Latinconnect.com - With just a click you generate PDF brochure pages of each product with your logo.
  • Centralized, cross-country tour operating - In cooperation with our partner agencies of Latinconnect.com.
  • Detailed travel documentation - online and as print version.
  • 24/7 accessibility with extended opening hours and emergency phone line.
  • Pick-up service for guests at the airport by multilingual tour guides.
  • Quick and fair handling of any possible complaint right on spot.
  • High customer satisfaction - 96% of our clients rate the organization of their tour good or very good.
  • Certificate for Sustainable Tourism (CST), ELITE Level  - Your guests have a positive impact on Costa Rica’s society and environment.
  • Costa Rica as a destination and ARA Tours as your incoming travel agency have received the Safe Travels seal from the World Travel & Tourism Council. This confirms that hygiene and health protocols are implemented and used.

Mission

ARA Tours develops memorable and sustainable products of high quality in Costa Rica and its neighboring countries, sells them through classic or digital channels and operates tours with a high level of service and added value.

our mission

Vision

ARA Tours is recommended by all its clients as a leading incoming agency in Costa Rica, for its high quality and relevant product, helpful employees, efficient processes, reliability and sustainability.

our vision

Values

  • Quality
  • Innovation
  • Relevance
  • Professionalism
  • Reliability
  • Respect
  • Sustainability
  • Responsibility
our values

History


A retro perspective from Daniel Küng, co-owner and President of ARA Tours

We need new and innovative travel destinations for our catalog! That was the challenge I received as a product manager from my Swiss employer. During my research, Costa Rica turned up, a country that was still quite unknown at the time, but still highly praised by backpackers.

So in May 1993 I took a flight to San José to get a better idea of the country. I had already travelled to many countries around the world through my job and immediately noticed: Costa Rica is a very special country. The positive attitude of people towards life, the unbelievable diversity of nature, the climate and, above all, the respect of people for each other and for nature convinced me so much that I decided without hesitation to make Costa Rica my new home.

A former expatriate Swiss friend had just founded a travel agency called ARA Tours in San José and suggested that I, as a tourism specialist, could turn it into an incoming agency.

That sounded perfect!

Somewhat naively, I packed my bags in January 1994 and moved to Costa Rica. In the meantime, a former school colleague of mine, Roland Ayer, allied himself with us while he was travelling through Latin America. He was given the job of turning a cardboard box full of bills and receipts into decent bookkeeping. Soon after, the previous owner withdrew from the project and Roland and I began the journey to make ARA Tours a successful company.

Roland's excellent skills in finance, software programming and logistics as well as my tourism background with in-depth knowledge of the European travel industry have complemented each other perfectly from the start. We focused on quality, individual tourism, top customer service and efficient processes. The internal development of the reservation software TISP was a milestone and brought us important advantages for the efficient processing of bookings.

The timing of our start couldn't have been better. Costa Rica soon developed into an insider tip and we were allowed to actively participate in the tourist development of the destination by actively working in various organizations. It is thanks to the exemplary cooperation between the Costa Rican tourist board ICT and these private organizations that Costa Rica has always pursued a clear vision and strategy of a sustainable tourism concept and is therefore a global example of this today.

Roland - Daniel
edelweiss costa rica
arenal volcano

Until shortly before the turn of the millennium, we were a small company with around 10 employees. Despite the growing popularity of Costa Rica, the country remained a niche destination and our advertising budgets were very modest. So we looked for a solution to show more presence on the market and therefore founded the Latincoming Alliance (today Latinconnect) with other agencies from our neighboring countries in 1999.

Little did we know that this strategic step would be extremely important for the future. In the beginning we mainly used synergies in marketing and carried out cross-border trips. The joint activities soon resulted in more bookings. With the onset of digitization in tourism, we have long since been developing our own software and, thanks to Latinconnect, can keep pace with the rapid development.

From the turn of the millennium things went uphill and ARA Tours developed into a leading destination management company in Costa Rica with around 80 employees. Further milestones were the CST certification as a sustainable company since 2010, the achievement of climate neutrality since 2018 and the active participation in the development of new direct flights from Europe by British Airways, Edelweiss, Lufthansa, KLM and Air France. The honor of cutting the opening ribbon for Edelweiss Air's maiden flight to Zurich was a truly emotional moment!

In the meantime, great employees have developed into new managers and we have been able to distribute the responsibility on other shoulders. Today, Sandra Haun (Commercial Director), Adriana Brenes (Product & Marketing Manager), Christine Pohnitzer (Customer Experience Manager) and Patrick Di Martino (IT Director) are part of the management. At this point, a big thank you to this great team!

And then came March 2020 and the unspeakable corona crisis. From one day to the next we had to somehow bring hundreds of guests home and organize home offices for all employees. Thousands of bookings had to be canceled or rebooked. Then came this eerie calm: zero bookings, no flights in the sky, closed borders and no perspective. It became apparent that the crisis would last longer than we first hoped and that the state in Costa Rica would have no financial means for aid. So we were on our own. It was a dark time.

But thanks to a fantastic team and financial reserves, we managed this dry spell and fought our way back.

Einstein coined the following sentence: A crisis is the greatest blessing that can happen to us because it always brings progress.

With this in mind, we look forward to the future!

Daniel Küng
Co-owner of ARA Tours

ARA Tours Testimonials-FeedBack

Feedback

  • Janaina & Dieter, Brazil

    The trip was wonderful! Your help was invaluable and without your choices it would not have been so good! I am very very satisfied and very happy with the choices you made!

    Thank you very much for everything!

    Janaina & Dieter, Brazil
  • Kathrin, Ines, Matthias & Ingo, Germany

    Hello dear Aline, many thanks to you for the great compilation and organization of the trip. We were able to spend eventful, interesting and wonderful days in Costa Rica and will keep them in good memory. A thank you also goes to the ARA Tours team, which was available 24/7 for problems and questions, which were solved and answered quickly and reliably. The punctuality of the transfers offered should also be emphasized. In summary, it was a wonderful holiday.

    Kind regards

    Kathrin, Ines, Matthias & Ingo, Germany
  • Carina & Thomas, Germany

    Hello dear Aline,
    Now we have arrived back at San Jose Airport after a great trip. Everything worked out great and the tour was just perfectly planned and organized. Thank you very much. We take a lot of positive memories with us.
    Best regards.

    Carina & Thomas, Germany
  • Yvonne, Switzerland

    The Costa Rica trip together with my family is already behind us - it was wonderful!!! Everything went smoothly from A to Z, we had a wonderful time, no incidents and wonderful experiences.
    We all enjoyed it very much; the nature is enormous, but also the warm-hearted people, the cleanliness, the food - we are very enthusiastic!
    At this point I would like to thank you very much for your support in the preparation, for all the bookings, clarifications and enquiries!!!
    We visited the waterfall in La Fortuna and had a great view of the Arenal. In Monteverde we did a Hanging Bridges and Zipline tour and in Nosara a surf course. In Finca Rosa Bianca we did the coffee tour, it was all great, fun and interesting 😊. All in all, we saw lots of animals, always ate well, enjoyed the beaches....even in rainy weather 😊. Often we were even glad that it was overcast, otherwise it would have been almost toouuu hot for us.
    So THANK YOU again so much for everything!!!!

    Yvonne, Switzerland
  • Christina, Switzerland

    Many thanks for the extensive support (before, during and after the trip) and the professional handling of our concerns. With your support we had a smooth and unforgettable vacation in Costa Rica! Our favorite hotels: Hotel Plaza Yara and the Poas Volcano Lodge - a dream!
    All the best
    Christina

    Christina, Switzerland
  • Jeanne, Bernd & Bill, USA

    Yay! I´m glad we are back on track. Thank you again for helping us with all these changes.
    I´m glad we choose ARA-you are amazing! Thanks for all your help! It made it a very memorable visit!

    Jeanne, Bernd & Bill, USA
  • Janka, The Netherlands

    Hi Eli & ARA Team,
    We have spoken to the guest and they are super enthusiastic about their Costa Rica roundtrip! Everything was well organized, nice hotels, nice mix of activities & beach and they have big compliments for you guys!!
    Many thanks for all the good work!! The guest highly appreciate it!!
    They had lunch nearby in Ara Ambigua Lodge, and they loved this place. Friendly staff and good food!
    Do you work with this accommodation? If so, we would love hear 😊
    Once again, heads off for this amazing trip!
    With warm regards

    Janka, The Netherlands
  • Thomas, Deborah, Eva & Paula, Switzerland

    Dear Priska
    Happily I write some words to you in English, so you can easily forward them also to Ara Tours, please. Thank you all, we spent a magic time in Costa Rica! Baumeler's and Ara Tours organisation and logistics were perfect, everything worked out even better than we expected. The tours were brilliant, we really enjoyed everything very very much!
    All the accomodation was absolutely wonderful... the setting, the quality, the food, with happy helpful friendly staff everywhere. It was a wonderful way to experience this beautiful country the way we did, on a private tour with personal guide and drivers. We saw and learnt sooo much - it would have been impossible to do so on our own.
    Especially we praise our brilliant guide Fernando Perez, we benefited so much from his truly wide knowledge and deep love for his Country which he passed on in lovely encouraging way. We even became friends and we will meet in Switzerland coming September! Also our driver Carlos Sandi was great, not only as a driver but also as a compagnion, animal spotter and photographer. Thank you!
    So.... now we just enjoy our last day...
    Sunny greetings, pura vida

    Thomas, Deborah, Eva & Paula, Switzerland
  • Yvonne & Andrea, Switzerland

    Hello all
    Unfortunately, our wonderful trip is already over and everyday life has caught up with us again. We would like to thank you very much for everything. The trip was planned exactly according to our wishes and we have seen so many beautiful places.
    Thank you Stefanie!
    We have felt completely comfortable and top cared for by you. Via Whats App we got immediate answers to our questions, with the car everything worked out great. In all locations we were treated very warmly and nicely. It was just so indescribably beautiful, we will dream of the beautiful experiences for a long time. In any case, we will warmly recommend you and hope for a next time. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
    Best regards.

    Yvonne & Andrea, Switzerland
  • Anita, Switzerland

    We have arrived safely in Switzerland and have already returned to work.
    It was a wonderful trip you put together for us.
    Your excellent service, as well as the 24 hour support service from ARA Tours, was truly outstanding.
    I have already recommended you several times and would book with you again and again. Thank you very much and keep me informed if there are any interesting offers.
    Best wishes.

    Anita, Switzerland
  • Lukas & Isabelle, Switzerland

    Hello Pedro, our time in CR is coming to an end and we wanted to say "thank you very much for organizing a phenomenal week". Everything has been well organized and we have seen many beauties of nature. Thanks!

    Lukas & Isabelle, Switzerland
  • Reinout & Yvonne, The Netherlands

    Thanks Jenny for the clear answer. We will make an appointment via the link you gave us.
    Today we visited National Parc Cabo Blanco. What an amazing park, so quiet for tourists, so full of animals, really lovely and therefore together with Monte Verde, Cahuita and Corcovado the park today, Cabo Blanco, scores high in our ranking of most beautiful parks of CR.These parks give us reason, together with the Pura Vida in CR, to come back soon. We'll keep in contact.

    Reinout & Yvonne, The Netherlands
  • Dominik, Germany

    Good day Jennifer
    As we have already told Simone, the stay at Lapa Rios is extremely enriching, thanks to the well planned planting and the untouched environment we see a lot of animals. Contrary to the plans before the stay, we do not want to visit more animals in captivity at the end. We will have a look at the few hours before we leave.
    We thank you and your team very much for the excellent advice and the permanent support! We can only recommend Ara Tours.
    Best regards.

    Dominik, Germany
  • Daniel, Jana & Theo, Germany

    A big thank to you, you saved our vacation!
    Communication already worked very well in Germany. The help from you, especially through Aline, should be mentioned here. This was fantastic from the first WhatsApp message to the last. We already know Costa Rica, so we knew what we wanted and what not. Ara Tours was an important point of contact for us. We are very grateful to Aline precisely because our actual travel agent cancelled our trip 36 hours before departure. She immediately organized everything for us. Whether the hotel in beautiful Punta Leona, the tours to the national parks, even the shuttle service with the great driver Guillerno Ortega has to be mentioned here. We are very grateful to you, dear Aline, but also to the entire Ara Tours team. You too made our almost 3-week trip to Costa Rica unforgettable again. We would love to come back and of course we will book through Ara Tours again.

    Daniel, Jana & Theo, Germany
  • Alexander & family, Switzerland

    Thank you, everything really worked out great. Super organization and at any time quick info / help / support from you!
    We liked it very much. The conclusion in Quepos was crowning. We liked the beach in the National Park Manuel Antonio very much. We would have liked to stay longer, but we take home many wonderful, unforgettable impressions. PURA VIDA!
    Many thanks to you Aline! We will gladly recommend you to others.

    Alexander & family, Switzerland
  • Neumann Family, Germany

    - The route was super planned, first on the beach time to arrive and then only from Monteverde with excursions inland etc. and at the end again beach - perfect!
    - Support from Ara Tours was VERY good!!! Through Whatsapp reachability the service was great, very quick answers / very flexible, good suggestions etc. Also with the doctor Ara Tours helped with translations by phone - that was really very, very good!
    - The home stay day was an absolute highlight - very authentic - so we got to know the locals REAL, the family was super friendly and very open and have talked about everything. Not at all touristy perceived.

    Neumann Family, Germany
  • Marine & Bruno, France

    Hello
    We would like to thank you personally for this beautiful trip that you organised for us and for the follow-up that you did throughout the stay. A big thank you also to Jennifer d'Ara tours! Thank you again and have a great week!

    Marine & Bruno, France
  • Walter, Switzerland

    We really appreciated your (almost) daily updates from Costa Rica on Covid and related issues. That was a highlight compared to other incoming agents worldwide! We thank you for your effort and wish you that you manage the coming time well and stay healthy.

    Walter, Switzerland
  • Ronald, Germany

    Our great compliments for keeping us informed every day on the developments. We wish you all the best and keep yourself and families in good health and mood during this unprecedented period!

    Ronald, Germany
  • Kathrin, Germany

    You are really super! It is impressive how you manage the crisis with your super flow of information and the great reversal. Hats off!

    Kathrin, Germany
  • Michael, Germany

    Hello, we were on a round trip in Costa Rica from 27.11., which was booked through BigXtra and organised by them. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you very much. The tour was simply amazing! The support by Carlos was just great. We have done many trips before, but this one was an unforgettable experience thanks to Carlos. Carlos speaks very good German and was able to sensitively introduce us to Costa Rica, its incomparable nature and its great, friendly inhabitants. Pura Vida became for us a term for the attitude towards life in Costa Rica. Please say hello to Carlos from us and once again a huge thank you to him in the name of the whole group of 8. We wish him only the best for his future.

    Michael, Germany
  • Evelyne, Switzerland

    Wie just did a 4 week trip in Costa Rica which was organised from ARA tours and we really liked it - well done Ara Tours! We also had a guide - his name is Enrique. His German is really good and he knows a lot about Costa Rica and he showed us a lot of animals. We had a wonderful time with hime - thank you so much Enrique!

    Evelyne, Switzerland
  • Tanja, Germany

    perfect tour perfect tour guide pablo, everything very well organised 👍👍👍👍🇨🇷🇨🇨🇷 were thrilled

    Tanja, Germany
  • Ines, Germany

    Many thanks and great praise to our tour guide Mauricio and our bus driver Adrian! We felt very comfortable during the 2 weeks in Costa Rica. The wide-ranging knowledge of Mauricio and the super driving skills of Adrian were particularly admirable. Thanks to the eagle eyes of both of them, we had the opportunity to observe a variety of animals in Costa Rica. Thank you for everything!

    Ines, Germany
  • Sabine, Germany

    I can only recommend ARA Tours. Thanks again to Nicole for the great planning of the tour and the support. Our tour guide Peter Käser was simply incredible (a walking encyclopaedia) and always had an answer to all my questions about the flora and fauna and the history of CR. Our driver Julio carried my father on his hands, for which I am very grateful. CR is also worth a trip for wheelchair users at any time (with ARA Tours, of course).

    Sabine, Germany
  • Thieme Family, Germany

    We would like to thank you once again for organizing our trip [...] through the beautiful country of Costa Rica. Our special thanks go to our tour guide Enrique, who with his extensive knowledge of flora and fauna about his country brought it very close to us and made us want to come even a second time. We were very glad and happy to travel with him, as he was also very committed to our problems on site, in addition to his competent function as a tour guide.

    Thieme Family, Germany
  • Antonia-Maria & Boris, Austria

    Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your sensational effort! I do not know such a competent tour guide as with you really from nowhere else... and we have already traveled a lot... 🙏🏻🍀

    Antonia-Maria & Boris, Austria
  • Katja, Germany

    I wanted to thank you again for the great Costa Rica trip. We flew back home very happy and with many great impressions. A compliment for the super organisation. Everything worked out perfectly (except for the handover of the rental car, which was force majeure...). So thank you again and I have already recommended you to friends:-)!

    Katja, Germany
  • Denise & Alain, Switzerland

    Thank you very much for your email and the tickets. We really appreciate how quickly and efficiently you deal with our requests each time!

    Denise & Alain, Switzerland
  • Philippe, Switzerland

    Hello Christine Thank you very much for this information. The support is super👍 many thanks Gruss

    Philippe, Switzerland
  • Marianne & Stefan Gräub, Switzerland

    Otherwise, the planned trip was a complete success. Everything went well and the visits you organised were all very interesting. The visits you organised were all very interesting and gave us a great insight into the respective topics. The fact that the Ticos are very friendly and always ready to help was fully confirmed.

    Marianne & Stefan Gräub, Switzerland

    Contact Information

    WhatsApp: +506-8893-3863
    Phone: +506-2232-0400
    Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

    Address

    Apdo 799 – 1007
    San José, Costa Rica

    Licenced by the Costa Rican Tourist Board: Lic ICT OT 294

    Liability insurance: Instituto Costarricense de Seguros (INS) Coverage: Territory of the Republic of Costa Rica

    Derechos Reservados - ARA Agencia de Viajes Internacional S.A © 2023