After Selina opened its first establishment in Antigua, Guatemala, the international chain announced that next year plans to open five new hotels in different parts of the country.
The chain's representatives informed that for the opening of the new hotels, which will be in the departments of Solola, Escuintla, Guatemala, Alta Verapaz and Peten, an investment of approximately $6 million will be made.
In the department of La Libertad, a 4,000 square meter beach hotel is being built, which will include a restaurant for 300 people, a wedding chapel and an event center.
Hotel Acantilados, which is reportedly 85% complete, will be ready to open its doors in September of this year, according to its directors.It is located at kilometer 41.5 of the Litoral highway, in La Libertad, and the total investment amounts to $5 million.
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.
The Selina hotels chain has opened a new hotel in Granada, which follows the one that is already operating in Maderas beach, and plans are underfoot to open another store in San Juan del Sur.
The growth seen in tourism activities in Nicaragua over the last few years has caught the interest not only of entrepreneurs and hotel brands in the region, but also of other international chains, who foresee opportunities in Nicaragua in the medium and long term.
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.
Due to non payment of interest on an issue of corporate bonds to investors the Panama Stock Exchange is suspending trading of three bond issues by the Panamanian company RG Hotels.
On June 12, the securities issuing company reported in a statement that it is thoroughly analyzing its financial situation, and announced they will not pay interest to investors who bought corporate bonds.
An announcement has been made that the Asian hotel company Six Senses has bought the hotel Aqua Wellness Resort, located in Tola beach on the Pacific coast.
An announcement has been made that the Blue Bay hotel chain is negotiating with a group of investors to operate a tourist resort consisting of a hotel, a golf course and a beach club on the Pacific coast.
It is expected that by July 1, 2015 the Spanish chain Blue Bay will be fronting a resort in Coronado, in the Panamanian Pacific. The hotel chain already has a presence in Panama and hopes to continue expanding.
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.
Tax incentives for the construction of hotels in the interior of the country are behind the increase in the number of operating permits issued since the implementation of the law in 2012.
With up to six years to start their projects, investors interested in developing hotel infrastructure in the interior of the country have until 2020 to benefit from the tax incentives which include total exemption from import tax, including transfer tax on goods and services (ITBMS), for a period of 20 years for the purchase of equipment, furniture, fittings and equipment used in the construction and equipping of the complex.
The Coastal Act passed four years ago encouraged tourism and real estate development in the Pacific.
Businessmen claim that the legal certainty provided by the legislation has resulted in more tourism and real estate projects in coastal areas, but there are still a lack of incentives for investment in projects in the Caribbean.
Adiak Barahona, CEO of Gran Pacifica Resort, told Laprensa.com.ni that "the Coastal Act eliminated uncertainty for landowners near the beach and encouraged the building of homes measuring more than 300 square meters."
The Spanish hotel chain is preparing to open the all-inclusive RIU Playa Blanca in April this year.
This April, the RIU hotel chain will open its first hotel in Panama, the all inclusive RIU Playa Blanca. The new resort will feature 573 rooms, restaurants, five bars, a disco, three swimming pools, a fitness center, and conference room, among other things.
The Wyndham Milagro del Mar Resort will offer 212 rooms on the Nicaraguan Pacific coast in San Diego beach, in Villa El Carmen.
The property will be developed by HB International, and its opening is planned for next year.
This will be the first Wyndham hotel in Nicaragua and its opening is scheduled for 2014, generating nearly 300 local jobs and becoming an anchor project in the Gran Pacifica resort, covering 1,440 hectares with more than four kilometers of beach.
With an investment of $67 million the Spanish chain Riu Hotels & Resorts will build a beach resort in the district of Rio Hato, Cocle Province.
The 520 room hotel under the name Riu Playa Blanca, will be the second in Panama owned by the chain, after having opened the Rui Plaza in 2010 which has 645 rooms in the capital.
"The stretch of beach, located between Punta Chame and Rio Hato, has been the heart of hotel investments which together add up to more than $300 million.
In 2014 the number of hotel rooms in Panama on offer will exceed 17,000, for which an inevitable price war is foreseen.
The other problem revealed to entrepreneurs is the lack of skilled labor to service clients in sophisticated environments where mastering a second languages is essential.
The Panamanian inventory of hotel rooms in 2010 indicated the supply of 10,000 rooms.