With the legal framework approved in Costa Rica, which regulates the provision of tourist rental services in housing through digital platforms, Airbnb executives anticipate a considerable drop in the number of hosts in the country.
On September 5, the Legislative Assembly reported that file 20865, the framework law for the regulation of non-traditional hosting and its intermediation through digital platforms, was approved for the second debate.
In Costa Rica, the bill to regulate the provision of tourist rental services in housing through digital platforms, which includes a 13% tax and would require suppliers to register, which would make this accommodation option more expensive.
The deputies approved in their first debate, file No. 20,865 Framework Law for the regulation of non-traditional hosting and its intermediation through digital platforms, reported the Assembly on August 28.
About 153,000 visitors annually come to the country to fish for recreational purposes, and the activity generates a chain of business of about $500 million annually.
According to a study conducted by the Costa Rican Fishing Federation (Fecop), most of the income reported in the country by sport and tourist fishing derives from the arrival of tourists interested in the activity, who generate annual revenues of $460 million.
The Canyon Group plans to invest more than $200 million in the construction of its first resort in Central America, which will be on the Papagayo Peninsula in Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
Without specifying the start date of construction of the new resort, which will be part of the brand of hotels "Six Senses", the developers of the project reported that the hotel is expected to be ready in mid 2021.
In the canton of Nicoya, Guanacaste province, it is planned to demolish the existing infrastructure and build the new facilities of the Harbor Reef hotel, a project that will require an investment of approximately $7.3 million.
3-102-719240 Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada presented the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) to develop the project called "Remodeling of the Harbor Reef Hotel", which will be built on a land of approximately 8,754 m2.
Because of the delay of the Costa Rican authorities to solve the problem of water supply in the Gulf of Papagayo, developers request that the terms of the concessions granted to them to develop tourism projects in the area be extended.
The Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT) has already received requests for concessions to be extended, because some of the projects that have not been completed have already consumed half of the time they were granted.
In the context of a considerable fall in foreign investment in the sector in Costa Rica, the situation could be further complicated by the elimination of tax incentives that tax reform is bringing along.
Figures from the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) detail that after reporting $443 million in foreign direct investment in tourism in 2017, this figure decreased dramatically last year, registering only $23 million.
In order to maintain the growth rate achieved last year in the number of visitors, government and business sector face challenges in terms of security, tourism supply, quality standards, among others.
Data from the Ministry of Tourism detail that generally, 2018 was a good year for tourism activity in the country. The figures show that the number of foreign tourists who came to the country totaled 2.5 million, 12.9% more than in 2017.
An apartment building in Guatemala, an educational center in Panama and a tourist complex in Costa Rica, are part of the projects that are planned to be developed in the coming months in the region.
The interactive system "Construction in Central America", compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData, includes an up to date list of public and private construction projects that are planned to be built soon.
In Jacó and its surroundings, in recent years there has been an upturn in construction, mainly because of the development of residential projects.
Data from the Federal College of Engineers and Architects (CFIA) indicate that since 2016 the number of square meters of construction processed in the cantons of Esparza, Puntarenas, Garabito and Quepos, all of the central Pacific, have remained high.
The construction of the road to Monteverde in Costa Rica, which has been postponed for years and that in the coming weeks would publish the tender documents, promises to further enhance tourism in the sector.
This is not the first attempt by a government to develop this important road project. In July 2014 the Ministry of Public Works announced that it would publish in 2015 a "direct competitive tender" to asphalt 18 kilometers of road in the province of Puntarenas.
With a loan from the IDB, the Dominican government plans to implement Phase II of the Integrated Tourism and Urban Development Program of the Colonial City of Santo Domingo.
The execution of the loan will be in a 6-year term, with a repayment period of 24 years, with an interest rate of Libor 3 months plus a margin, currently estimated at 3.78%, informed the government.
On a 21-hectare site in Sardinal, Guanacaste, a tourist complex consisting of a hotel and private residences is planned.
ML CR Continental LLC presented the Environmental Impact Study (EIA) to develop the project called "Hotel and Villas Cala del Sol", which will be made up of three hotel villas and seven private residence villas.
The document explains that the hotel villas will be one floor and will house between four and five rooms. They will have an arrival square, social area, kitchen, bathroom, covered terrace, swimming pool and electromechanical room. Residential villas will be on two levels and will have a garage and larger social areas.
This year in Guatemala, it is planned to invest around $50 million in the implementation of new attractions in an entertainment park and the remodeling of an aquatic center.
Directors of the Institute for the Recreation of Workers of the Private Enterprise of Guatemala (Irtra) announced that this year are planning to invest in new games in Mundo Petapa and in the remodeling of the aquatic park in Agua Caliente, both in the department of Guatemala.
Now that the works that will allow the water supply to the main tourist centers of the Gulf of Papagayo, in Costa Rica, are finished, it is expected that they will restart the investments paralyzed years ago.
After the opening of Las Trancas-Papagayo Bahía Aqueduct on March 1st, which was achieved after an agreement between the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers, the Costa Rican Institute of Tourism and the private sector, there is optimism that investments can be reactivated in at least 11 projects.