The "Who is essential to you?" essay contest from the Costa Rica Tourism Board - just ended - which offered all-expense-paid trips to Costa Rica for winners drew 4600 entries from Americans and 1200 from Canadians.

North America is Costa Rica's #1 tourism source market.

Entrants wrote essays about a loved one and why that person is essential to them. The Tourism Board is selecting 15 winners who wrote the "most inspiring" essays, to be awarded a week-long trip to Costa Rica for the writer and the loved one.

The Tourism Board expects the promotion, which coincided with the beginning of Costa Rica's high season, to help jump-start the country's economy which has been struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Winners can travel anytime between February 2021 and February 2022.