Hotel Demand in Capital of Costa Rica

Trade agreements and international economic recovery drive at least four new projects over 80 rooms. There are projects which already been built and recently opened, while still others are in initial stage. 

There are big hotels; building valued at least a total of $ 55 million which has more than 80 rooms, which meant. Most hotels have their target audience in the corporate sector, mainly as second niche to attract visitors for medical tourism.

The hotels are to convince the demand for rooms that need these corporate centers, as for foreign companies, some of its workers travel to visit and need a place to stay. For this reason people search for hotels close to business towers.

"The FTA with the United States promises to attract investment, for hotels in the metropolitan area to meet rising demand", said Rubén Pacheco Lutz, senior vice president of the Costa Rican Chamber of Hotels. 

Another reason for increase of hotels in Costa Rica is that some investors had planned these buildings prior to the crisis, but entering this hard time decided to hang them. But now, when the tourism sector and the financial system begin to recover, resume boost.

One of the major benefits it is located only 100 meters from the Hospital CIMA San José; it also considers potential audience foreigners visiting the country to perform any medical procedure.

These Hotels will have facilities for corporate guests feel comfortable. For example will have wireless Internet at no additional cost.

The important thing is that this growth will occur in the areas of greatest demand. Avoid saturating areas where this demand and satisfied. Metropolitan Area focuses a major tourist demands, here the hotels operate the commerce sector also benefit as the main entry point for international tourists, said Allan Flores, Minister of Tourism. 

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What’s New in Costa Rica

Montverde: A Quaker Community

If you have not yet been privileged to visit Montverde while you are in Costa Rica, you are among a very small minority. Montverde is a settlement in the rainforest that attracts millions of tourists. But it was not always like that. Almost half a century ago, some Quakers from Alabama, U.S.A. settled in that area naming it ‘Montverde,’ or ‘Green Mountain.’

They have devoted their lives to studying the extensive biodiversity of Costa Rica and now that is also available to you by visiting a new website www.montverdenow.org. This is a project by the Montverde community and the United Nations Mandated University for Peace and is a series of short videos featuring the lives of those who live in Montverde. The site will be available from April 19, 2011.

More Visitors from the UK

Over the years Costa Rica has experienced a large number of visitors entering the country for tourism. Although these tourists often come from several parts of the world, the vast majority of them have always been from the United States and Canada, with a very low rate of visitors from the United Kingdom (UK).

However, this no longer the case as the number of British visitors to Central America destinations increased significantly with Costa Rica getting the bulk of these visitors. Costa Rica is definitely becoming even more popular as a tourist destination.

New License Plates for Vehicles in Costa Rica

Vehicle drivers in Costa Rica need to see about getting their license plates changed. A public decree published in the gazette on April 8 made it compulsory for Costa Rica vehicle drivers to have their license plates changed to the new one.

There are several reasons for this. One of them is to regularize the system, to get all vehicles on the road to carry the same type of license plates. Another reason is to minimize the cases of forgery when it comes to license plates.

The issue here which causes some form of discontentment is that the vehicle owner would have to be responsible for the costs of changing the license plates and the cost is not at all cheap.

Recently in Costa Rica

Wal-mart Opening More Stores in Costa Rica 

Actually, Wal-mart has owned a lot of stores in Costa Rica for some time; stores like Maxi Bodega, Pali and Himpermas. So if you have shopped in any of those, you have really been shopping at a Wal-mart. Of sorts. The only thing is it has never carried its name on any of those stores, at least not in Costa Rica. Wal-mart announced recently that it plans to open 24 stores across Costa Rica with its name on the stores. Since this year began, Wal-mart has already opened two stores in San Jose. This is a great development as they will be bringing with them, a lot of investment into the country.

Bean Farmers Sell on the Streets

Local bean farmers in Costa Rica have been having a hard time of it when it comes to selling their products. The major source of their difficulties can be traced almost directly to the large bean importers who are able to sell bean to the local Costa Rica populace at a much cheaper rate. This makes competition really hard.

In order to create an opportunity where they could make some sales, local farmers got together and opened stalls on the street where a bean sale was held for a whole day. Hopefully, people will realize the good quality of local bean and start purchasing from the local farmers.

ICE Users Facing Problems Soon

For those who are users of the telephone network, instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), the service has announced that they would be facing connection problems on both phone and data. This is not a common occurrence and the service has assured its customers that they are working on the problem.

Shopping During Semana Santa

Semana Santa is the Costa Rican Lenten period when most Costa Ricans go for a more fish oriented diet. The surveyors of the Ministerio de Economía, Industría y Comerico usually use this time to check the food prices in different stores and fish markets.

The results of the survey showed a widely diverging price rate from across 25 different stores. There were so many price differences on the same product across the stores that if you want to do any grocery shopping this season, you are advised to shop around first and compare prices. Some of the differences are up to 70 percent.

Recent Happenings in Costa Rica

3^rd International Travelers Philanthropy Conference

The 3^rd International Travelers Philanthropy Conference is slated to be held in Costa Rica beginning July 20, 2011. 21 workshops will be held during the course of the conference and they fall under three main themes: Benefiting communities and conservation; Enhancing the tourism experience; and Building a more engaged and ethical tourism industry.

A highlight of the conference will be the closing dinner and live multimedia concert hosted by Costa Rica’s Minister of Culture, Manuel Obregon who is also a world renowned concert pianist. He will also be performing his famous piece, ‘Symbiosis’ during the course of the evening.

Also the same evening, the Jamaican Music legend, Chris Blackwell will be present. Chris Blackwell is the founder of the music label, Island Records which had musicians like Bob Marley and U2 on its list. It is sure to be an evening to remember.

For more information about the 3^rd International Travelers Philanthropy Conference, visit the conference website at http://travelersphilanthropy.org/conference

Another Member of President Chinchilla’s Cabinet Resigns

Once again, another member of President Laura Chinchilla’s cabinet has stepped down from her post. Jenny Phillips was the vice-minister of Finance (vice-ministra de Hacienda). She would be leaving her post at the end of the month, after a long career since 1976.

Her resignation has been confirmed by the Minister of Communication, Roberto Gallardo. When asked, Jenny Phillips cited different managerial methods as the reason why she felt it best to step down.

Jenny Phillips’ resignation would make her the fifth member of President Chinchilla’s cabinet to resign.

Play Bridge in Costa Rica

If you are a bridge player or you would like to pick up an interest in bridge, the Costa Rican Bridge Club, the Asociación Recreativa Nacional de Bridge is inviting new players who are interested in playing bridge to join.

Interested players can join the bridge club every Tuesday at 9:30 am, starting from April 26. There will be a free social meeting for interested parties. English is spoken so if you are a foreign national from out of town, feel free to drop by.

The club meets at La Sabana Oeste just west of the Pops I ice cream store, which is across the street from the La Bruja convenience store. For more information, contact George P. Harris at gpharris73@gmail.com