Google announced the arrival of its Special Collections to Costa Rica. This option is part of Google Maps, collects 360-degree sights of geographic, touristic, historical or cultural sites throughout the country. In total 76 locations are part of Google’s Special Collections in Costa Rica.

“Thanks to the support of the country brand Essential COSTA RICA and different organizations, such as the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE), the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC), the Agency for the Protection of Inhabitants’ Data (PRODHAB), the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), the University of Costa Rica, the Municipality of San José, among others. It was possible to capture the images in 360 ° of cities, as well as the interior of theaters, airports, markets, museums and many other attractions”, explains the press release.

Costa Rica is among the first countries in the Central America and Caribbean region to be part of this project.
The Google team worked for a seven-month period on the center of San Jose as well as other provinces to capture the images in adequate quality.

“The Costa Rica of the Bicentennial requires the impulse in the digital economy in a transversal way in all fields, in this case, the tourism sector is fundamental. This shared effort between the government and the private sector shows the effectiveness of using artificial intelligence, augmented reality and other emerging technologies in the drive for a better country,” said the Minister of Science, Technology and Telecommunications, Luis Adrián Salazar.

Isla del Coco, Hermosa Beach, Ocotal, Playas del Coco, the Jade Museum, the National Gallery, the Gold Museum, the Basilica de los Angeles in Cartago, the National Stadium, are just some of the many sites that are now featured in Google Collections.

The Minister of Tourism of Costa Rica and member of the Committee of the country brand Essential COSTA RICA, María Amalia Revelo said: “By choosing Costa Rica, Google Special Collections is recognizing and enhancing the natural, historical and cultural value of a variety of national jewels. For the Costa Rican Institute of Tourism, this is a wonderful example of how to put technology at the service of promoting tourism. The 360° images of the 76 different destinations that were photographed will allow users to embark on a journey to places where cars do not even arrive, gems that have been difficult to access, such as Isla del Coco, or explore from another perspective panoramic views of more known places that have become part of our daily life as La Sabana and capital museums. We celebrate the public-private partnership that made this project possible”.

Giovanni Stella, General Manager of Google for Colombia and Central America and the Caribbean explained: “Costa Rica has great tourist and cultural attractions, sites that have to be exploited and shared with the world. In Google we always put the user first, that’s why we work every day to innovate and provide them with all those improvements, reinforcing our goal of contributing to the digital ecosystem of the region and remain committed to the country. Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful, a job we see reflected in this release today, with information that can be accessed from anywhere in Costa Rica and beyond. “

To access the Google Collections all you have to do is go to maps.google.com, search for the place you are looking for and on the bottom the 360-degree option will display if available