Tourists are renting more and more houses for leisure purposes, competing strongly with the traditional hotel industry.
Vacation rental is defined as the renting of villas, houses, apartments or country estates for a few days or weeks, and is growing fast around the world. Central America is no exception to this phenomenon, which suits especially families or small groups.
In the next months the Government will decide who will build the government sponsored Conventions Center.
Some months ago Consortium “Feria Costa Rica” expressed its interest in the project, but the proposed financing scheme was not yet authorized in the country.
Costa Rica still faces obstacles to implement this mechanism, regarded as the best alternative for funding public works.
Public works securitization is once again being discussed, as the upcoming Tourism Minister stated it will be used to fund a new National Conventions Center.
With the objective of attracting more tourists from the United States, “Costa Rica Plus” offers discounts and promotions for reservations.
The advertising campaign, which cost $500,000, will run for eight weeks in American newspapers including: The New York Times, USA Today, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times, and the magazine Travel Weekly.
Costa Rica is going through the consequences of the international crisis in its main industry, tourism, being that it received 83 thousand less visitors than during same period in 2008.
By country, the decline in the number of tourist arrivals from the United States is the most important, and this is significant since tourists from the north are usually 54% of the total.
The Central American Tourism Ministers met in Panama and agreed to promote the region in Europe.
With the help of the Central American Regional Integration Support Program (PAIRCA), a market survey will be conducted in order to understand the impact of the Central America brand in Spain, Germany, England, Italy and France.
The Monteverde Trainforest, an ecological train with a 3 kilometer journey and an investment of $7 million, hopes to have 50 thousand visitors a year.
The company is planning to open the tourismtrain in May 2009. It is currently negotiating with medical tourism and cruise operators to attract customers. Additionally, it is planning to make alliances with hotels and tourism services in the area to expand the options for the visitor.
From September 2008 to February 2009, Costa Rica received 82 thousand less tourists than during the same period the previous year.
The aggregate of tourists for the country’s two international airports for the semester ending in February 2009 was 885 thousand, 8% lower than the figure of 967 thousand recorded during the same period in 2008.
The nacion.com website published: "Carlos Ricardo Benavides, Minister of Tourism, said that the situation 'did not take us by surprise nor were we sleeping.' He added that a budget of $20 million for promotion was prepared this year for this very reason."
About 100,000 tourists visit the country annually for medical purposes, paying between $4,000 and $6,000 per procedure.
The measure enacted by the executive branch will mean that the Tourism and Foreign Trade Ministries will work on bringing more investment and patients to the country, and that the Health Ministry will promote international accreditation of the medical facilities and ensure service quality.
The boat race, Transat Jacques Vabre, one of the most important in the world, will set off from Port Le Havre in November with the goal of reaching the Port of Costa Rica in the Caribbean.
Among others considerations, the election of Costa Rica as the competition´s final goal was made with keeping in mind the tradition of the country as a producer of coffee, since the boat race is organized by Jacques Vabre, a French company that commercializes coffee. In previous years, the boat race has had as the final destination other countries that are also coffee producers with Atlantic coasts, such as Brazil and Colombia.
Approved during the first round of debate, the law would eliminate the 3% tax charged for hotel services and creates air ticket tax.
The new law will come into effect after it is published in the official government Gazette, however lawmakers mus approve the project in a second round of voting and it must be signed by the President.
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