Mobility analysis and geomarketing techniques have become key factors in the real estate investment process.
In the process of searching and selecting areas for the acquisition of a property for real estate development, investors focus on finding those with the highest expected return on investment. This process, which until now was done using traditional financial and feasibility studies, has now become incredibly simple with mobility analytics and location intelligence based on Big Data.
With Big Data management techniques, companies can optimize their strategic business planning, by taking advantage of market and companies' data.
Big data has emerged as a powerful tool that organizations can use to leverage data-driven decision making for better strategic planning, determine which market niches of their products, are growing or shrinking, obtain traffic data of their stores or website, determining where they come from, what kind of devices they use, dwell time, and foot traffic patterns to help analyze which promotions and efforts are successfully driving their business.
The Mexican airline Volaris will be suspending its services as of July 1, and the luxury resort hotel Mukul, in Guacalito, has announced the indefinite closure of its operations.
The crisis that has been going on in the country for the last month continues to harm the tourism business sector.The airline Volaris reported that it will temporarily suspend services to Managua from next week, and the luxury hotel Mukul Auberge Resorts Collection, in the South Pacific, announced on Friday that it will close its operations indefinitely.
It is estimated that renting halls for events and opening up restaurants to the general public and not only to guests, represents between 15% and 40% of income for hotels in the Greater Metropolitan Area.
Hotels in the Greater Metropolitan Area are making use of these options in order to take advantage of the infrastructure available to provide services beyond renting bedrooms.
The new law against tax fraud obliges anyone renting houses and flats for less than 30 days to register and pay sales and income taxes.
Services of renting houses, apartments and condominiums for periods less of than one month must pay sales and income taxes, and those who carry out such activities must register as taxpayers of the two taxes, in order to not be subject to fines.
It has been announced that a hotel will be built under the Curio brand, owned by Hilton, called Botanika Osa Peninsula, in the southern zone of Costa Rica.
From a statement issued by Hilton Hotels:
Hilton (NYSE: HLT) today announced the signing of the Botánika Osa Peninsula to Curio - A Collection by Hilton. Botánika Osa Peninsula, Curio - A Collection by Hilton, is slated to open in 2018 and the project developer is Sinergo Development Group.
In Costa Rica between 2010 and 2015, the proportion of tourists staying in rented homes instead of hotels increased from 4% to 11%.
Of the more than 9.6 million tourists who visited Costa Rica in the last five years, almost 700 thousand claimed to have stayed in rented homes using platforms such as Airbnb or Homeaway, instead of hotels.Figures compiled by Nacion.com indicate that the greatest trend was seen in the province of Guanacaste, specifically among tourists coming into the country through the Daniel Oduber airport.
The Public Prosecutor has initiated criminal proceedings against representatives of the spanish chain RIU for alleged environmental damages generated in the construction area of the hotel it operates in Guanacaste.
Representatives of the hotel company state that all logging jobs in the area where the hotel was built in Matapalo beach, were performed with possession of permits issued at the time by the institutions.
An environmental impact study has been submitted in Costa Rica for a 14,000 square meter hotel development in the touristic region of the Gulf of Papagayo, Guanacaste.
In the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the "DP6 Papagayo Project", filed with the National Environmental Technical Secretariat in July 2015 by Hoteleras Playa Pochote S.A., it is indicated that the hotel tourism development will have a maximum of 318 rooms.
Agrisal Group invested $10 million in the purchase and remodeling of Indigo Hotel in Santa Ana, which from now on will operate under the brand Holiday Inn Express.
The 100-room hotel is located in Santa Ana and is focused mainly on the segment of business travelers.
Prunera Luis Alvarez, a member of the board of Grupo Agrisal told Eleconomista.net that "...
The announcement of the construction of a new 151-room hotel in the resort Reserva Conchal Cabo Velas, Santa Cruz, confirms the recovery of the tourism sector in the country.
From a statement issued by Desarrollos Hoteleros Guanacaste S.A:
W Costa Rica, Reserva Conchal
Anticipated Opening date: Second Quarter 2019
SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA, June 30, 2015 - Development Hoteliers Guanacaste SA (DHG), a subsidiary of Florida Ice and Farm Company SA, announced today that it has plans to develop the hotel W Costa Rica, Reserva Conchal whose anticipated opening date will be during the second quarter of 2019. The W Costa Rica, Reserva Conchal will be operated by the prestigious American company Starwood Hotels & Resorts (Starwood), according to the contract signed between the parties involved. The project includes, among other things, the development of the following facilities: 151 rooms, the "W Living Room", a specialty restaurant, bar and lounge, infinity horizon pool, spa and convention center.
Although major hotel brands claim not to be affected, the growing supply of houses and apartments for short stays, is forcing hotels to change their methods of attracting guests in order to survive.
Airbnb, VRBO and Homeaway are just some of the countless websites where owners rent their houses or apartments to tourists, who increasingly opt for this alternative to conventional hotels worldwide, and Central America is no exception.
In the Gulf of Papagayo the government of Costa Rica has already granted 35 areas in concession, which occupy almost 90% of the total area to be developed.
At the moment nine resorts are operating, three are under construction and it is expected that design plans for two more will be submitted this year.
Three hotels are expected to start operations during 2015: the Paradisus Papagayo Bay Resort, with an investment of $90 million, the Marriott Papagayo, with $67 million and the Wyndham Resort Papagayo YU, with $22 million. Authorities in the Gulf of Papagayo Tourist Pole pointed out that besides the three projects formal presentation of the designs and the start of procedures to build a hotel and a residential complex is also awaited.
Small hotels can not compete with the low prices used by big international chains in the sector to attract customers.
Entrepreneurs in the tourism sector in destinations in Manuel Antonio, Quepos and Aguirre are demanding urgent action by the government to halt what they call unfair competition, which coupled with the low influx of tourists in the area and the absence of a strategy for tourist attraction, is leading small hotel companies to bankruptcy.
In the past 20 years hotels have had to adapt to much more informed clients, who are less loyal and have broader interests.
An article on Hosteltur.com reviews the evolution of the hospitality industry, in times of globalization and most of all the possibilities offered by the Internet.
The Secretary General of CEHAT, Ramón Estalella, notes that "...