The request for proposals to hire a company to run a convention center that is being built in Costa Rica will be published in a month, and it will be targeting foreign private companies.
The lack of local experience in the management of convention centers of the magnitude of the one being built in Heredia could be the main reason why the company hired to manage the center will not be Costa Rican.
The first phase of the Golfito Marina Village & Resort project, in Puntarenas, includes 50 berths, a fuel pier and parking for 26 vehicles.
Elfinancierocr.com reports that "...This first phase includes 50 berths: 14 for 40-foot boats, 8 for 40-foot yachts, 25 for yachts measuring 60 to 90 feet, 2 for 140-foot megayachts and 1 berth for a gigayacht."
The goal of tourism authorities is to organize 950 conferences and conventions for 500 people each in the next five years, generating $1.3 billion in revenue.
The five-year plan presented by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) is based on the opening of the National Congress and Convention Center (CNCC), which is scheduled for the first quarter of 2018.
The number of international arrivals to the country last year grew by 10% compared to 2015, reaching a record 2.9 million visitors.
During the year 2,925,128 international arrivals to the country were reported, and over 70% came in by air, which represents the main means of entry.2016 showed growth of 13.8%; in other words, almost 260 thousand more arrivals than in 2015.
This year 11 new hotels are expected to open, adding 696 more rooms in different parts of the country, with an estimated investment of $149 million.
Details from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) show that there are 11 establishments in the process of completing paperwork with the entity to declare themselves of tourist interest.
Arguing that they would "give muscle" to the state in managing the sector, a proposal has been made to add a Ministry of Tourism to the current Costa Rican Tourism Institute, a move which has been firmly opposed by employers.
The private sector is concerned that the proposed bill to create a Ministry of Tourism to operate alongside the current Institute of Tourism, will mean that State funds that are used to promote the country as a tourist destination will be diverted.
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.
In five years the airline market in Central America has transformed from being a market dominated by two major airlines, to one with new entrants, lower prices and greater connectivity.
The arrival of so called "low cost" airlines to the region has resulted in a progressive reduction in the prices of tickets to fly between Central American countries. Between 2011 and 2014 the average cost without taxes for travelling between Costa Rica and El Salvador ranged from between $400 and $500, while in 2015 it costs $391.
For the fourth time the Comptroller has returned without having approved the contract for the construction of the new convention center, which in May was awarded to the construction company Edica for $32 million.
This time the Office of the Comptroller General of Colombia requested the Costa Rican Tourism Institute give a better justification for why they will use nearly $8 million from the $15 tax charged to tourists entering the country.
As part of an old-fashioned commercial aviation policy, taxes, airport charges and costs in the region take a heavy toll on the price of low cost air tickets.
Although the "low cost" airline Viva CAN announced that Costa Rica would be its hub for Central flights from 2016 with very competitive rates, Joe Mohan, CEO of Viva Latin America, told Nacion.com that it is now impossible to offer prices below $100 because of the high burden of taxes and additional charges on tickets in all countries in the region.
Up to December 2015 2.559 hotels with 47,452 rooms were registered in the country, of which 70% are located in the city and at the beach.
Market figures have not yet reached the levels recorded before the crisis of 2008, when the Costa Rican Chamber of Hotels counted 2,599 hotels in operation, spread across different areas of the country, but are instead concentrated in the large metropolitan area and coastal areas.
Labeling as "tourists" those who should actually be categorized as "International Arrivals" damages projections made by entrepreneurs in this sector.
The Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) announced earlier this year that 2.6 million tourists visited the country in 2015, 5.5% more than in the previous year.
But the weekly newspaper El Financiero carried out some analysis which went beyond the official figures.
JetBlue announced the addition of a second weekly flight from Boston and Apple Vacations will incorporate the Liberia Missouri-Saint Louis route, which will be operated by XTRAirways.
JetBlue will operate its second flight on Sunday in a A320 aircraft with capacity for 150 passengers, starting in January and to be maintained throughout the season. Meanwhile XTRAirways will use a Boeing 737-400 with capacity for 150 people, operating from March 18 this year to August 5, 2016.
After several failed attempts, it has been announced that eleven construction companies have now pre-qualified and it is expected that work the work, valued at $30 million, will start in the second half of the year.
The companies which have expressed interest and will have to submit their bids no later than June 24 are: Estructuras S.A, ICA S.A, Constructora Gonzalo Delgado S.A, Constructora Navarro y Avilés, Edica Ltd., Constructora Van Deer Lat y Jiménez, Copisa-Setecoop, FCC Centro Nacional de Convenciones, Consorcio Sogeosa-Constructora Eliseo Vargas and Edificar S.A.