Mauricio Ventura Aragón graduated from American University in Washington, D.C., with a Master’s in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance. Hotelier by profession and involved in the tourism industry from a very young age, coming from a family of pioneers in Costa Rica’s hotel development as early as 1911.
With more than 35 years of professional experience in tourism, he also has an important trajectory as a financial analyst with investments, being directly involved with the stock market and banking.
As a businessman of the tourism industry, he managed and presided over the Hotel Radisson Europa and later the Tourism Division for BAC-Credomatic Tourism Group, also working as an independent consultant for different companies, as well as governmental and trade associations and agencies. He has participated in multiple seminars and conferences at a national and international level.
Because of his vision and active participation in the tourism industry in Central America, he has served as director and president of various boards for trade associations and governmental agencies such as the Costa Rican Association of Travel Agencies (ACAV, for its acronym in Spanish), Costa Rican Chambers Union and Private Enterprise Associations (UCCAEP, for its acronym in Spanish), the National Chamber for Tourism of Costa Rica (CANATUR), the Federation of Central American Tourism Chamber (FEDECATUR), in addition to being the Latin American representative for the RADIUS Governing Board, one of the three largest travel agencies networks worldwide, with sales reaching over $20 million. He also served as Vice-President of the National Parks Foundation of Costa Rica (FPN) and for many years was part of the Board of Directors of the National Biodiversity Institute – INBio, and of the Governing Director for the Polo Turístico Golfo de Papagayo (PTGP). In 2007, he was appointed by the Mayor of San Jose, Johnny Araya, to become part of the new Board of Tourism of San Jose.
His professional performance has been recognized with the ¨TOURISM WITHOUT BOARDERS 1999¨ award, the highest tourism industry distinction in Central America.
