The Costa Rican Chamber of Hotels (CCH) separated from the National Chamber of Tourism, CANATUR, for differences regarding the internal organization and after finding out about the poor financial management of the administration.
The decision was made by the CCH after the General Assembly of CANATUR was held on December 6, during which the results of the administrative management during 2012 were released.
In Nosara and Samara, the members of the local Chambers of Tourism disapproved of the news of the separation.
Marcos Carmona, president of the Samara Chamber of Tourism, CASATUR, which has been affiliated with CANATUR since 2012, indicated, “It’s a decision that affects national tourism. If we continue dividing and each one works alone, this will be chaos. We can’t work separately.”
Likewise, Marcos Johanning, secretary of the Nosara Chamber of Tourism, affirmed that disunity impedes working and getting things done well. He commented that they have been affected in the Nosara Chamber since currently they don’t have a president and there isn’t much unity or people willing to work.
Chamber of Hotels Requests Reforms
In an official communication, the Chamber of Hotels explained that they made a formal request to CANATUR to have an internal commission analyze and formulate changes in the affiliation process, the integration of associates in the general assemblies and the composition of the board of directors, among other reforms.
However, the majority of the recommendations made by the CCH were rejected by CANATUR’s board of directors.
In addition, another major reason for which the Chamber of Hotels decided to separate finally was the lack of financial information that exists in CANATUR’s records from the month of June until September of 2012.
Juan Carlos Ramos, current president of CANATUR, does not agree with the Chamber of Hotel’s decision to disaffiliate. Although he recognizes that there were errors, misunderstandings and lack of communication, he said that they are currently working to solve the problems.
“Of course we don’t agree with the disaffiliation of the Chamber of Hotels. I feel that we all lose with the separation. There were misunderstandings, lack of communication and human errors,” he expressed.
According to Ramos, there were rumors about the real financial situation of CANATUR, but he explained that “it’s not as many affirm that CANATUR is facing bankruptcy and there isn’t any money.”
In addition, Ramos indicated that “the accounting records exist, but the external auditor didn’t present the required documentation of the 2012 financial statements in time.”
However, he mentioned that they now have all of the information. “I hope that by February when we convene another session we can present all of the complete financial documentation,” he assured.
According to Flora Ayub, executive director of the Chamber of Hotels, they have always been allies since CANATUR formed and the CCH occupied a position as vocal in the organization’s board of directors.
With the disaffiliation of the CCH, three important members have now separated from CANATUR. In previous years both the Association of Airlines (ALA) and the Costa Rican Association of Car Rentals (ACAR) decided to part ways with the organization.
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