Ligia is a native "Tica" who was born and raised in Costa Rica, was a student in the USA, worked in Mexico and now is home again as the director of IVI’s Central American operations in Costa Rica and Panama. Ms. Vargas’ experience as an American Field Service student gave her a good understanding of North American people and cultures. Later she studied communications and public relations at the Universidad de Costa Rica.

Her business career began in Cancun, where she gained experience with several positions in both tourism and government relations. Ligia's international experience included serving as an accredited consul from Costa Rica in Cancun. On the business side, Ms. Vargas was general manager for LACSA, the national airline of Costa Rica, in Cancún and Yucatan. Her 14 years in the Cancun area also included working as the sales and marketing director for 5-star hotels.

She returned to Costa Rica in 1995 to take advantage of Costa Rica's growing popularity as a tourist destination and start her own business there. She had developed a strong working relationship with IVI founder Jose Manuel Garcia, and in 1998 he asked her to launch an IVI Destination Management operation in Costa Rica. She agreed, and the success of their joint venture led to expanding their venture in 2009 to include Panama under the banner of IVI Central America Quest DMC.

Ligia credits her team's success to an emphasis on hiring the "best and the brightest" people she could find. From the outset, she recruited young Costa Ricans who were highly intelligent, had a high sense of ethics and morality, and were excited by the opportunity to work in a stimulating environment within the dynamic and fast-growing field of tourism. Ms. Vargas firmly believes that a team of people who can meet high performance standards is the only way for IVI to deliver the outstanding level of service the company's client's demand. In brief, Ligia and her team are trained and dedicated to keeping IVI’s promise to all clients: "We make you look GREAT!"