Although in 2019 the arrival of tourists to Costa Rica increased 4% compared to 2018, businessmen of the sector continue to face complex procedures to open a new business and the high costs of basic services.
Data from the Directorate General of Immigration and Foreigners, said that between 2018 and 2019 the number of foreign visitors who came to the country grew by 122 thousand, from 3.01 million to 3.14 million tourists.
Because of factors such as business closures and lack of opportunities, it is estimated that criminal activity costs Honduras and El Salvador 16% of GDP, and in the case of Guatemala, its losses could amount to 7% of its production.
In Central America, the human costs of crime remain one of the highest in the world. El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—referred to as the Northern Triangle— account for about four-and-a-half percent of homicides worldwide despite only having about one-half-percent of the world's population.
A raíz del robo de un contenedor que transportaba productos lácteos, la cámara del sector hizo un llamado a todos los gremios vinculados al comercio internacional y local, para que refuercen sus medidas de precaución.
In a statement, the Nicaraguan Chamber of the Dairy Sector (CANISLAC) reported that on Friday, December 13, 2019, the first container of Quesillo was stolen in the history of Nicaragua.
The U.S. government decided to raise the security alert level for travel to the Central American country from 1 to 2, arguing that violent crimes are occurring that can affect tourists.
The North American country maintains four categories that classify the degree of danger that tourists face when visiting a destination. In the case of Costa Rica, it went from category 1, which tells travelers to take normal precautions, to category 2, which warns that greater caution should be taken.
Because the area of stolen land in Guatemala has grown from about 10,000 hectares in the 1990s to 164,000 in 2018, losses in agricultural production caused by this phenomenon reached nearly $650 million last year.
The Chamber of Agriculture (Camagro) estimates that only in 2018, invasions of private property, mainly agricultural production farms, generated a negative impact equivalent to 0.6% of Gross Domestic Product.
Lack of legal certainty, electricity theft and social conflicts are forcing businessmen in Guatemala's energy sector to choose to relocate their investments to El Salvador.
Last year, the companies Applied Energy Services (AES) and Corporación Multi Inversiones (CMI), both US and Guatemalan capital, decided to invest $47 million in solar energy projects, encouraged by the facilities offered to the energy sector in El Salvador.
Germany recommends German tourists to be cautious when travelling to the Central American country, mainly because of the general strike that has caused road blocks.
The German Information Center for Latin America informed its travelers that because a nationwide general strike continues in Costa Rica, there are restrictions on the public sector and road blocks in and around the capital, San Jose. There are also considerable delays in access to the San José International Airport. Meanwhile, security forces are acting against road blocks and violent conflicts cannot be ignored.
A report by InSight Crime highlights the homicide rate registered in Costa Rica in 2017, which was 12.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, the highest number in its history.
The report indicates that Costa Rica is a country that has traditionally been considered "peaceful," and in respect to the escalation of the homicide rate, an increase that local authorities attribute to organized crime, the report indicates that "... lack of retrospective and a vague methodology is weakening the authorities' attempts to attribute blame to organized crime."
In its new warning system for tourists, the US government included Panama and Costa Rica at the lowest risk level, Nicaragua at level 2 and Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, in the category "Reconsider Travel".
The US Department of State has announced modifications to its system of travel alerts and recommendations to citizens considering traveling to other countries.The new advisory system divides nations into four levels, according to the risks present in each country.
One in five companies claims to have been a victim of crime this year, and 80% say that about 10% of their operating costs correspond to security.
From a statement issued by the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of Private Business Sector (UCCAEP):
December 18, 2017The situation of insecurity that the country is experiencing is also hitting private sector companies hard.This has been revealed by the IV Quarterly Business Survey "Pulso Empresarial" (Business Pulse), prepared by the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP).
In the first eight months of the year in Costa Rica, the theft of 107 containers was reported, generating losses of about $5.7 million for the business sector.
Theft of vans and containers in Costa Rica has been increasing in recent years.Between January and September of this year, 16 more thefts were reported than in the same period in 2016.
In addition to the usual problems of crime facing cargo carriers in the Northern Triangle, the union has denounced an increase in robberies on Costa Rican roads.
Inequality and lack of coordination in security measures that are implemented in each of the Central American countries is preventing better results from being achieved in combating robbery of freight trucks.
Added to the factors already deteriorating competitiveness in the export sector are increased thefts of merchandise on the country's roads and infiltration of drug trafficking in exports.
The National Chamber of Cargo Carriers (Canatrac) reports that attacks on trucks on roads in the country have increased since 2012.They state "... on average 12 assaults used to be committed per year, however the figure has risen to 20 in recent years'."
Another case of drugs found in cargo which came from Costa Rica highlights the imperative need to improve controls and implement the use of scanners at export ports.
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