Archive for the “costa rica tourism” Category

It is only normal for the hotel industry in Costa Rica to experience an atypical high season for 2009 due to the current economic situation in the United States, Costa Rica’s main source of tourism. However, the industry has not been discouraged and in turn is taking precautionary measures in order to guarantee the highest occupation possible during the crisis. Management of several Costa Rica hotels has agreed on offering its customers an added value that will hopefully entice them to stay longer.

Hotels and vacation rentals at Costa Rica are offering extra perks that include from free long distance calls to free meals or tours. So actually this is a pretty good time to take advantage of the low rates and extra bonuses offered by the hotel industry in Costa Rica.

Airlines such as American Airlines have been posting very cheap airfares to Costa Rica from South Florida. The plane trip is roughly over a couple of hours and once in San Jose, transportation and lodge is extremely easy to arrange.

Hotels in Costa Rica that have decided to offer an added value for the room rate are located in San Jose, Guanacaste, Puntarenas and Limon. Although not all hotel managers agree with offering bonuses to its customers as they believe it can backfire in the long run, it won’t hurt to ask if they offer something extra in case it is not posted on the website.

Full article at CostaRicanHotels

The Professionals in Tourism Association (ACROPOT) in Costa Rica has re-launched its online site in which Costa Rica hotels, tour operators, car rentals, restaurants, tourist centers as well as job hunters can upload their contact information for a possible job opportunity.

The website http://www.empleosenturismo.com allows tourism companies in Costa Rica to upload available positions within their operations for the public to see.  At the same time, the website allows for people to upload their curriculum as well as browse job openings within the Costa Rican tourism industry.

According to ACROPOT, although the world financial crisis has slightly affected tourism contraction in the country, several companies are still in need of certain positions to be filled.  The new website is also more dynamic as it now allows the users to upload, edit or delete their information thus keeping the data current.

The information that is uploaded to the website will remain available to the public for one month.  After that, the user will have the option to reactivate his or her information for another period of time.

Unlike other online job sites, the Empleos en Turismo website is free of charge for both the company and the person seeking work.

Article thx to Costa Rica Hotels Blog

The public tourism industries in Costa Rica as well as government officials have agreed upon improving tourism access to select protected wildlife areas.  The program will be financed by the Inter-American Development Bank IDB and the Costa Rican government.

According to the Minister of Tourism, Carlos Ricardo Benavidez, the program will seek to enhance the infrastructure of those areas that have high visitation ratings as well as those that have never before been open to the public.  Benavidez mentioned that the program will focus on increasing the local community’s benefit from tourism at the same time it will improve each area’s infrastructure, offer and training of personnel.

The program has a total cost of US$25 million and will mainly be financed by IDB.  These funds will be distributed among areas which need to add an infrastructure in order to allow visitors as well as those that already have an infrastructure but needs maintenance and improvement due to its use.

In addition to the collaboration of government tourism sectors, other public entities such as the Costa Rican Electrical Company ICE and the National Areas Conservations System SINAC will collaborate with the Wildlife Protected Areas program.

Benavidez will also request a collaboration agreement within the distinct tourism sectors before Congress’ Environment Commission.   In addition, Benavidez mentioned that a strong marketing campaign will also be included within the program in order to offer these Wildlife Protected Areas as an attraction to tourists while at the same time allowing local communities to benefit from tourism.

This article at Costa Rican Hotels Blog

For the fifth consecutive year, the Travel Weekly magazine has named Costa Rica as “Top Latin American Tourism Destination” for the year 2008.  The recurrent distinction on behalf of Travel Weekly exalts Costa Rica’s meticulous and arduous emphasis within the tourism sector.

The methodology behind choosing the top destination is based on the survey among 180,000 magazine subscribers.  In addition, these subscribers are linked with the tourism industry in the United States and represent hotels, travel agencies, tour operators, suppliers and corporations.

The areas that voters take into consideration are the quality of the tourism services, excellence in service and the country’s natural attractions.  Costa Rica attracts millions of tourists each year due to its beaches, incredibly diverse National Park System, hotel infrastructure and its stable political environment.

The Minister of Tourism, Carlos Ricardo Benavidez, commented about the special distinction mentioning that it is an acknowledgement of the country’s hard work and dedication within the tourism industry.

The honor goes out to the work of all sectors within the industry such as Costa Rica hotels, tour operators, travel agencies, service providers, transportation companies, rent-a-cars and more.

This year, Costa Rica beat other popular destinations such as Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Belize for the Travel Weekly “Top Latin American Tourism Destination” distinction.

This article on Costa Rica Hotels