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Tourism Recovers Says ICT

By Qcostarica.com
04/19/13

Photo by Adam Dietrich

Tourism appears to have recovered nicely after the worldwide recession. Tourists are not only coming in greater numbers but they are spending more.

But all is not so rosy — although tourism was up last year 34% more than it was in 2009, prices in colones for electricity, gasoline and other unavoidable costs are up. And increased competition for those tourists is also stiffer.

Of course, the Central Bank has put forth noble (and so far successful) efforts to keep the dollar-colon exchange rate stable, but prices have soared in colon terms. And an added hazard adds a grim note for the future — increased crime.

At least one hotel on the Caribbean slope closed after tourists were briefly held at gunpoint and robbed of their personal valuables. (Robbers Hit Caribbean Hotel.) At another hotel, the owner and his son were murdered.

Such incidents do not aid the country’s reputation as a visitor’s paradise, even though they are admittedly rare. In fact, despite these headline events, the frequency of murder is down.

Most of the tourists in 2012 were North American and this raises another worry for the future: Is the European Union going to pull out of its flat-lining economic outlook any time soon? Granted, this has hurt tourist industries in other nations closer to Europe more than it has here.

For Gustavo Araya, vice president of the Hotel Chamber, the country’s good name can be damaged if infrastructure (roads, bridges, airports) enter a decline. “In our country,” he says, “there are long delays in making decisions and this may impact strongly on the hotel industry.”

Araya also sees a poor distribution of hotels in the country. “We about reached the saturation point for rooms in the central Valley,” he says, and the government must focus more on coastal areas.

But the Tourism Institute (ICT) has tapped a new market. For the first time, the country participated in the Beijing tourism fair this week, angling for the country whose growth rate (10% or more annually) has been the greatest in history over the past decade.

The growth rate of Chinese tourists seeing the rest of the world is phenomenal: It increased from 10 million in 2000 to 83 million last year. If Costa Rica can tap into that number, its last year’s tourism earnings of $2.4 billion will look like peanuts.

More Regional News

Air Traffic At Juan Santamaria Airport Will Be Affected by Obama Visit

The landing of Air Force One, the airplane carrying U.S. President Barack Obama, will affect operations at the Juan Santamaría International (SJO) airport from May 3 to May 5.

Lagislators Correct "Gag Law" and Ensure Freedom of the Press

As if it were the end of a suspense novel, the correction to the computer crime law, known as the "gag law", has finally been approved at the second debate.

Tourism Recovers Says ICT

Tourism appears to have recovered nicely after the worldwide recession. Tourists are not only coming in greater numbers but they are spending more.

Dengue Epidemic Continues in Nicoya Due to Negligence

Communities have dropped their guard and now the aedes aegypti mosquitos that transmit dengue “are having a party”, according to Maria Eugenia Villalta, medical director of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS), who reported a 300% increase in cases of dengue in the country compared to this same period in 2012.

Every Two Days a Home is Robbed in the Nicoya Canton

During the course of today and into tomorrow thieves will enter a Nicoyan property to steal its belongings.

Bailey Bridges Don’t Meet International Standards

Recently concerns have been raised about the safety of the Bailey bridges that have been used in many places around the country, including in the districts of Samara and Nosara.

Is a Coastal Canton Separate from Nicoya Possible?

“The fight for the coast’s canton has started and we need the support of everyone. Only united can we achieve it!!!”

Municipality Now Collecting Hospital’s Garbage

In early March, the Constitutional Court ordered that the Municipality of Nicoya should pick up the ordinary garbage generated by the La Anexion Hospital. This was because the municipality stopped collecting garbage from the medical center since they didn’t separate the ordinary garbage from the hospital wastes.

Muni Now Has Approval to Distribute Money to Families Affected by Earthquake

The Municipality of Nicoya now has the green light from the General Controller of the Republic and the Ministry of Finance to distribute the 568 million colones ($1,136,000) that will be granted to more than 400 families to repair their homes after the earthquake of last September 5.

Water Shortages Cause Hardships

After an abnormally dry rainy season, coming into the hottest and driest months of summer, many communities are being forced to ration water by shutting off water periodically, especially towns that already had problems with insufficient water supplies.

The $70 Million Promised for Pavement of Route 160 Doesn’t Exist

Luis Antonio Aiza, legislator of PLN (National Liberation Party) for Guanacaste, said that the $70,000,000 pertaining to the loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (BID) made in 2008 supposedly to be invested in route 160 “were false promises since this amount never existed.”

Pictures and News of the Month

The Voice of Nosara brings you a brief recap of March stories you might have missed.

No Dry Law, No Problem: Police Report Holy Week Calmer Than Normal

Every year during Easter Week, in addition to religious activities, going to the beach tops the list of ways to celebrate. This year, as usual, the beaches from Carrillo and Samara to Guiones and Pelada were filled with visitors, but with some notable differences.