Guanacaste is where Costa Rica's international tourism leaves the most money. Resorts, villas, destination weddings, surfing and an international airport in Liberia bringing direct flights from North America. For a creator working in user generated content, it is the best paid market in the country, with clients billing in dollars and expecting international standards.

An economy of resorts, villas and dry season

Tourism dominates from December to April, when the dry season turns the province into a set with constant light. Hotels, rental villas, tour operators, surf schools and restaurants live off those months, although they increasingly try to stretch the year.

Around it grew foreign focused real estate, a very high ticket sector that consumes video non stop, and an ecosystem of destination weddings and events that needs imagery all the time. Construction, services and local retail complete the picture.

The sectors that hire in Guanacaste

  • Hotels and villas: resorts, boutique properties, holiday rentals and rural lodges, selling the stay months ahead.
  • Real estate for foreigners: developments and agencies, where one good video is worth more than fifty photographs.
  • Destination weddings and events: planners, photographers and suppliers who need constant content.
  • Surf and adventure: schools, equipment rental, nature tours and wellness.
  • Restaurants: beach restaurants, cafes and local product brands aimed at visitors.
  • Wellness: yoga retreats, spa and health, a niche that in Guanacaste bills in dollars.

English is not optional here

In Guanacaste much of the end audience speaks English, and so does much of the buying side. A creator comfortable on camera in Spanish and English can deliver the same piece in two versions and charge for two, and reaches clients who never even consider someone working in Spanish only.

That is the real rate gap in the province. And a perfect accent is not required: what is required is clarity, good audio and being natural on camera.

Working the season and surviving the rain

From May to November tourism drops and it rains almost every day. High season contracts are closed between August and October, not in December: pitching in the middle of the season means arriving late.

For the rest of the year there are two ways out. Diversify towards clients who do not depend on tourists, such as local retail, clinics or real estate, which sells all year. And sell abroad: brands in the United States, Canada and Europe need beach and sun imagery in the middle of a northern winter, and they hire remotely. A UGC marketplace profile stating your languages and location is what makes you visible to them.

What creators charge

Guanacaste pays above the rest of the country. As a reference: a single video starts around sixty to a hundred and twenty dollars. With a strong portfolio, a hundred and fifty to three hundred and fifty dollars per video. Packages of three to five videos sell between four hundred and fifty and a thousand dollars. Real estate, resorts and international clients pay above those numbers, and paid media rights are charged separately. Almost everything here is invoiced in dollars.

Where to go next

Guanacaste offers the best rates in the country, guaranteed light for half the year and clients who pay in dollars. To turn that into paid work, our guide on how to become a UGC creator covers building the portfolio, setting prices and closing the first collaborations.