Agroganadera Pinilla SA has announced the sale of La Posada, in Hacienda Pinilla, Guanacaste, to the company Rythmia Holdings Company SRL, which will convert the facility into a center for medical treatment.
From a statement issued by Agroganadera Pinilla, SA:
Agroganadera Pinilla, SA, owner of Hacienda Pinilla Beach Resort & Residential Community in Guanacaste, announces the sale of the Hotel La Posada to the company Rythmia Holdings Company SRL, a subsidiary of Rythmia LLC, a company based in California, USA.
The Municipality of Nicoya in Guanacaste province plans to build a medical center with participation of private investors from the United States and Canada.
Leveraging the status of "blue zone" Nicoya has earned, a term given to areas with the highest longevity rates in the world, the City is preparing a project for 2015 and looking for private investors to participate in it.
An announcement has been made for the opening in 2016 of a luxury hotel with 450 rooms, of the Dreams brand, in the coastal town Buenaventura.
The firm is continuing its expansion in Panama with a luxury hotel under the brand name "Dreams Resorts & Spas" construction in the hotel zone of Buenaventura.
"The hotel will be located in a community of luxury villas and high-level resorts located just minutes from Rio Hato International Airport.
Maps, interactive tours, destinations to visit, benefits for travelers, events and much more can be viewed at Visit Panama using mobile devices.
As part of a strategy being implemented by the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP), local tourism information can now be viewed from cell phones. The goal is to exceed 2 million visits per year, and increase the number of pages visited by tourists coming into the country.
A plan is underway to boost medical hydrology in the north of the country, taking advantage of the tourist infrastructure and natural conditions in the area.
Entrepreneurs from San Carlos, in the northern part of the country, plan to form partnerships "with the medical community and businesses in order to build medical centers and train professionals in the health industry, said Lorena Herrera, businesswoman and team president", reported Elfinancierocr.com.
Mexico, Spain and Poland are looking to position themselves as medical tourism destinations competing with the traditional ones such as India, Thailand, Brazil and Turkey.
From an article by the Costa Rican Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
Besides traditional competitors such as India, Thailand, Brazil and Turkey, new international players such as Mexico, Spain and Poland are now seeking to position themselves as medical tourism destinations. On the one hand is Poland, which through a government program is trying to promote itself as a good country in which to find health treatment, rehabilitation, diagnosis and aesthetics services and, through its participation in three consecutive fairs (Miami 2012, Moscow and Monaco in March 2013), has managed to be taken into account by the experts as a new player in this market.
The act of holding conventions in Panama has intensified areas such as transportation, lodging and shopping, and its contribution to GDP is projected for this year at $32 million.
According to the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP), the IX World Congress and celebration of 50th anniversary of the World Missionary Movement's work, held at the Figali Convention Center, generated 20,000 room nights and provided $5 million.
On 13 May, Costa Rican businessmen will meet at a business forum in which they will study strategies to position Costa Rica as a destination for the European market.
From a press release by the National Chamber of Tourism of Costa Rica (CANATUR):
The European region represents one of the main markets for attracting tourists to Costa Rica, which, according to figures from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), received 284,996 visitors from Europe, which means about 12% of total reported income in 2012.
Tourist companies believe that sustainability is not an easy process, however it can be a good idea if it is about doing business.
Katiana Murillo in her article in Baños, reviews the opinion of some companies who participated in Expotur 2013, regarding the question of whether sustainability can be good business for tourism entrepreneurs.
For example, Hotel Arenal Kioro (4 leaves from the CST) says that travel agencies support hotels with green policies, in Europe there are agencies that only work with sustainable hotels and in the U.S. there is a move in this direction.It is also a way to educate the customer and employees, which creates motivation and both of these have an impact on savings.
After a first attempt to consolidate a core of companies engaged in providing medical services to foreigners, efforts are now being made to create an association for promoting medical tourism.
The country is looking to position itself within the medical tourism industry globally, growing at an accelerated rate of 30% annually.
In order to give a boost to medical tourism, a group of Salvadorans are promoting the creation of an association to promote health and to focus on niches that the country can exploit. "The partnership will look out for the interests of the sector, monitoring and ensuring that the people working in it do it well," said Mario Cruz, medical director of Equitec.
In Colombia $642 million will be invested in building more than 200 spas and wellness centers, the crux of a 20-year plan.
From an article by the Costa Rican Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism in Colombia launched on April 23 a business plan with the objective of making the country a favorite destination for wellness tourism.
During 2012, medical tourism generated $338 million for the country, up almost 4% compared to 2011, when it registered $300 million.
Figures from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT by its initials in Spanish), revealed that in 2012 a total of 48,000 people came into Costa Rica for the purpose of undergoing various medical procedures.
The goal for the ICT and the Council for the International Promotion of Costa Rican Medicine (Promed), is that during 2014, 100,000 tourists of this type enter the country, which would equate to generation of $800 million.
In Costa Rica the Hotel El Tucano aims to become an international club that will offer medical, cosmetic and holistic services.
For this reason on Tuesday November 27 it will be holding a bond auction for $7 million.
"The debt will be incurred by the Trust Altara El Tucano-Scotiabank, which will own 100% of the shares of the hotel and will support the issue with a program of international sales of memberships at a cost of $16,000 each", reports Nacion.com.