Source: http://www.journalcr.com
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
(Infocom and AFP) — During the leatherback turtle nesting season that began last October, almost 900 of the endangered ocean reptiles have hatched at Junquillal Beach in Santa Cruz de Guanacaste.
Even though one of the 25 nests that have been protected since the beginning of the season is yet to hatch, World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) officials indicated 886 baby turtles have been born, most of them in a nursery that this environmental organization set up in this Costa Rican North Pacific beach, which in the past few years has become one of the main spots worldwide where the largest of the sea turtles come to lay their eggs.
Community support to protect the nests and keep them from being vandalized has been vital to this year’s record-high hatching rate of 62 percent.
The leatherbacks are giant migratory turtles that swim great distances to nesting spots in the tropics. Their main nesting area in Central America is Playa Grande, which like Junquillal also belongs to the canton of Santa Cruz, Guanacaste.
Junquillal, which only recently was found to be an important nesting site for leatherbacks, is not officially part of Costa Rica’s Conservation Areas System, making it difficult to conduct preservation campaigns from a legal standpoint.
According to the WWF website, the absence of patrolling efforts by authorities in the area leads to up to 75 percent of the eggs being stolen.
But this year’s community support and hatching success in Junquillal has led to optimism tha the turtles will increase their dwindling population.
“Junquillal has probably become the second most important beach for leatherback turtles to nest in Central America, due to not only the number of nests but also the success in the number of birth of young turtles,” said Gabriel Francia, who coordinates the WWF’s Pacific leatherback turtle conservation project.
Taking much of the credit are six young area residents who patrol the nearly six-kilometer (four mile) long stretch of beach each night looking for leatherbacks that have come ashore to lay eggs.
Team members will take note of the time the turtles crawl out of the ocean as well as the weather conditions and the tide. The team members then take the eggs from the beach nest after the mother turtle has returned to the ocean and move them to a secured hatchery.
The leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) measures nearly two meters (6.5 feet) long and can weigh up to 650 kilos (1,430 pounds), making it the largest turtle species in the world. The number of leatherbacks worldwide has declined by nearly 90 percent in the past three decades.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Playas del Coco marina project okayed by ICT
Source: http://www.journalcr.com
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
(Infocom) — The marina project planned for Playas del Coco in Guanacaste has received the go-ahead by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute’s (ICT) Inter-institutional Commission on Tourist Docks and Marinas.
The project, on the drawing board since 200, seeks to become a magnet for tourists in the area, thus injecting dynamism to the economy in this popular Pacific coast beach by generating direct and indirect employment.
The marina would be constructed at Punta Centinela and would have capacity for 300 boats.
Now that the project has been okayed by the government commission, the Municipality of Carrillo will study it the proposal to initiate a concession process.
The El Coco Marina Development Association (Asodemac) is the entity in charge of the project. Representatives said the plan is moving at a good pace and the recent approval is testimony that the marina will be built according to environmental policy as regulated by the Environmental Technical Secretariat (SETENA).
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
(Infocom) — The marina project planned for Playas del Coco in Guanacaste has received the go-ahead by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute’s (ICT) Inter-institutional Commission on Tourist Docks and Marinas.
The project, on the drawing board since 200, seeks to become a magnet for tourists in the area, thus injecting dynamism to the economy in this popular Pacific coast beach by generating direct and indirect employment.
The marina would be constructed at Punta Centinela and would have capacity for 300 boats.
Now that the project has been okayed by the government commission, the Municipality of Carrillo will study it the proposal to initiate a concession process.
The El Coco Marina Development Association (Asodemac) is the entity in charge of the project. Representatives said the plan is moving at a good pace and the recent approval is testimony that the marina will be built according to environmental policy as regulated by the Environmental Technical Secretariat (SETENA).
Tourists notice investment in Guanacaste roads
Source: http://www.journalcr.com
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
Touris(Infocom) — The investment made by the Ministry of Transportation and Public Infrastructure (MOPT) in the past two years on Guanacaste roadways has not gone unnoticed by tourists.
A survey conducted between January and March by the Guanacaste Chamber of Tourism (CATURGUA) at Liberia’s Daniel Oduber International Airport found that the level of satisfaction with the province’s national routes went from 1.75 (bad) in 2006 to 2.97 (good) this year.
MOPT data indicates that between 2006 and 2008, the government has invested 13.8 billion colones (almost $28 million) on national highways that run through Guanacaste, including works such as curb and bridge maintenance, concrete slab repair, pothole filling and paving, among others.
Additionally, MOPT spent 1.2 billion ($2.4 million) colones paving the Belen-Huacas-Matapalo route in the cantons of Carrillo and Santa Cruz, for a total of 36.4 kilometers.
Progress is also being made on the 13.2-kilometer highway that connects the communities of 27 de Abril, Rio Seco, Paraiso and Villa Real. This project has an estimated cost of 3.9 billion colones (almost $8 million). Other works include the highway that connects Hojancha to Puerto Carrillo, which is 90 percent paved now and represented an investment of 4.2 billion colones.
CATURGUA Executive Director Mauricio Cespedes said that in addition to offering national and international visitors roads in better shape, a plan has been developed to increase the number of road signs through an agreement betweee MOPT and the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT).
“We have seen that in the past two years, many national routes have been improved in Guanacase, which clearly reflects in the increase of favorable opinions among those who visit our province. We must highlight the intense work put forth by MOPT in this area,” Cespedes said.
Currently, another project is being developed to improve rural roads in Guanacaste through an investment of 4.6 billion colones (over $9 million). This project involves MOPT, communities that stand to benefit from the works, consulting from the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ), and financing from the German Bank for Reconstruction and Promotion (KFW).
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
Touris(Infocom) — The investment made by the Ministry of Transportation and Public Infrastructure (MOPT) in the past two years on Guanacaste roadways has not gone unnoticed by tourists.
A survey conducted between January and March by the Guanacaste Chamber of Tourism (CATURGUA) at Liberia’s Daniel Oduber International Airport found that the level of satisfaction with the province’s national routes went from 1.75 (bad) in 2006 to 2.97 (good) this year.
MOPT data indicates that between 2006 and 2008, the government has invested 13.8 billion colones (almost $28 million) on national highways that run through Guanacaste, including works such as curb and bridge maintenance, concrete slab repair, pothole filling and paving, among others.
Additionally, MOPT spent 1.2 billion ($2.4 million) colones paving the Belen-Huacas-Matapalo route in the cantons of Carrillo and Santa Cruz, for a total of 36.4 kilometers.
Progress is also being made on the 13.2-kilometer highway that connects the communities of 27 de Abril, Rio Seco, Paraiso and Villa Real. This project has an estimated cost of 3.9 billion colones (almost $8 million). Other works include the highway that connects Hojancha to Puerto Carrillo, which is 90 percent paved now and represented an investment of 4.2 billion colones.
CATURGUA Executive Director Mauricio Cespedes said that in addition to offering national and international visitors roads in better shape, a plan has been developed to increase the number of road signs through an agreement betweee MOPT and the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT).
“We have seen that in the past two years, many national routes have been improved in Guanacase, which clearly reflects in the increase of favorable opinions among those who visit our province. We must highlight the intense work put forth by MOPT in this area,” Cespedes said.
Currently, another project is being developed to improve rural roads in Guanacaste through an investment of 4.6 billion colones (over $9 million). This project involves MOPT, communities that stand to benefit from the works, consulting from the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ), and financing from the German Bank for Reconstruction and Promotion (KFW).
Forbes Magazine names Tamarindo ‘Costa Rica’s most popular beach’
Source: http://www.journalcr.com
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
(Infocom) — An article appearing in the prestigious Forbes Magazine has designated Tamarindo “Costa Rica’s most popular beach,” according to an article written by travel chronicler Pierre Lehu.
The story, published last Feb. 22, lists several Costa Rican attractions for mountain and beach tourism, particularly in the Guanacaste region.
Lehu wrote that Guanacaste’s beach stand out, among other reasons, because they offer great conditions for practicing sports such as surfing and have better facilities, including transportation.
Among Costa Rica’s advantages, the Forbes article highlights its high degree of literacy, the diversity of places to visit and the warmth of the local population. In general, the story raves about the beauty of Guanacaste’s beaches and the friendliness of the residents.
Forbes Magazine is one of the most prestigious publications in the international financial world, with 900,000 copies in print every two weeks. It was founded in 1917 under the direction of editor-in-chief B. C. Forbes.
Lehu, the writer of “Off to Costa Rica,” constantly travels around the world to bring readers information about various destinations. He, the magazine says, is the author of more than a dozen books, including Sake: Water from Heaven.
In the past few months, several projects and infrastructure improvements have provided Tamarindo with more facilities, including the reestablishment of the beach’s lifeguard program and the paving of the town’s main access road — a project that is currently in its final phase.
Tamarindo has attracted a large number of investors and businesses in the past few years. The availability of goods and services has increased dramatically, including banks, restaurants, new hotels, law offices and many other businesses that have transformed this coastal town in an attractive destination for visitors, having there many amenities in a rural area with great scenic attributes.
Just as the The Guanacaste Journal has been reporting, in Tamarindo there have also been recent efforts to fight dengue fever, beach clean-ups and recycling projects, all part of public and private initiatives to offer and cleaner and safer place to visitors.
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
(Infocom) — An article appearing in the prestigious Forbes Magazine has designated Tamarindo “Costa Rica’s most popular beach,” according to an article written by travel chronicler Pierre Lehu.
The story, published last Feb. 22, lists several Costa Rican attractions for mountain and beach tourism, particularly in the Guanacaste region.
Lehu wrote that Guanacaste’s beach stand out, among other reasons, because they offer great conditions for practicing sports such as surfing and have better facilities, including transportation.
Among Costa Rica’s advantages, the Forbes article highlights its high degree of literacy, the diversity of places to visit and the warmth of the local population. In general, the story raves about the beauty of Guanacaste’s beaches and the friendliness of the residents.
Forbes Magazine is one of the most prestigious publications in the international financial world, with 900,000 copies in print every two weeks. It was founded in 1917 under the direction of editor-in-chief B. C. Forbes.
Lehu, the writer of “Off to Costa Rica,” constantly travels around the world to bring readers information about various destinations. He, the magazine says, is the author of more than a dozen books, including Sake: Water from Heaven.
In the past few months, several projects and infrastructure improvements have provided Tamarindo with more facilities, including the reestablishment of the beach’s lifeguard program and the paving of the town’s main access road — a project that is currently in its final phase.
Tamarindo has attracted a large number of investors and businesses in the past few years. The availability of goods and services has increased dramatically, including banks, restaurants, new hotels, law offices and many other businesses that have transformed this coastal town in an attractive destination for visitors, having there many amenities in a rural area with great scenic attributes.
Just as the The Guanacaste Journal has been reporting, in Tamarindo there have also been recent efforts to fight dengue fever, beach clean-ups and recycling projects, all part of public and private initiatives to offer and cleaner and safer place to visitors.
Guanacaste is 4th in construction in first quarter
Source: http://www.journalcr.com
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
(Infocom) — According to the professional responsibility construction registry of the Federated Engineers and Architects Association (CFIA), last March was the month was the largest request for construction permits measured in square meters of the past five years, with 758,509 m2. In fact, the first quarter of 2008 was the most active CFIA has seen in the past five years, with the professional organization okaying over 2.3 million m2 of construction throughout the country.
During the first three months of the year, San Jose province stayed in first place in construction area reported to CFIA, with a total of 686,313 m2, or 30 percent of the country’s total. That represented a 61 percent increase for Costa Rica’s most populous province compared to the first quarter of 2007.
Guanacaste was fourth out of the country’s seven provinces, with reports of 347,590 square meters, or 15 percent of the total. After San Jose, Puntarenas, Heredia, Guanacaste and Alajuela all had very similar shares of the total pie, with around 15 percent. But Alajuela, which came of fifth, had the biggest decrease (25 percent) in construction area compared to the same period last year.
No. 2 Puntarenas had 376,081 m2 of new construction registered last quarter, for 16 percent of the total. Posting a big gain was Heredia, which for the first time climbed to third place, boosting construction area by 80 percent in comparison with the first quarter of last year with a total of 361,495 m2. This was the largest positive variation of all provinces, with Heredia (the smallest province) becoming one of the main drivers of growth in the construction industry this year.
At the bottom of the list were Cartago (142,371 m2, or 6 percent) and Limon (69,861 m2, barely 3 percent of the country’s total).
When breaking down the country by cantons, it’s possible to see that some of them had more construction are registered than even Cartago and Limon provinces. For example, the upscale canton of Escazu, west of San Jose, concentrated 10 percent of registered construction area in the country (231,792 m2), while the central canton of Heredia scored 9.4 percent of the national total (217,793 m2). In the case of Guanacaste, the cantons with the most construction activity were Santa Cruz, Liberia, Carrillo and Nicoya, all along the Pacific coast (see graphic).
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
(Infocom) — According to the professional responsibility construction registry of the Federated Engineers and Architects Association (CFIA), last March was the month was the largest request for construction permits measured in square meters of the past five years, with 758,509 m2. In fact, the first quarter of 2008 was the most active CFIA has seen in the past five years, with the professional organization okaying over 2.3 million m2 of construction throughout the country.
During the first three months of the year, San Jose province stayed in first place in construction area reported to CFIA, with a total of 686,313 m2, or 30 percent of the country’s total. That represented a 61 percent increase for Costa Rica’s most populous province compared to the first quarter of 2007.
Guanacaste was fourth out of the country’s seven provinces, with reports of 347,590 square meters, or 15 percent of the total. After San Jose, Puntarenas, Heredia, Guanacaste and Alajuela all had very similar shares of the total pie, with around 15 percent. But Alajuela, which came of fifth, had the biggest decrease (25 percent) in construction area compared to the same period last year.
No. 2 Puntarenas had 376,081 m2 of new construction registered last quarter, for 16 percent of the total. Posting a big gain was Heredia, which for the first time climbed to third place, boosting construction area by 80 percent in comparison with the first quarter of last year with a total of 361,495 m2. This was the largest positive variation of all provinces, with Heredia (the smallest province) becoming one of the main drivers of growth in the construction industry this year.
At the bottom of the list were Cartago (142,371 m2, or 6 percent) and Limon (69,861 m2, barely 3 percent of the country’s total).
When breaking down the country by cantons, it’s possible to see that some of them had more construction are registered than even Cartago and Limon provinces. For example, the upscale canton of Escazu, west of San Jose, concentrated 10 percent of registered construction area in the country (231,792 m2), while the central canton of Heredia scored 9.4 percent of the national total (217,793 m2). In the case of Guanacaste, the cantons with the most construction activity were Santa Cruz, Liberia, Carrillo and Nicoya, all along the Pacific coast (see graphic).
Study on Guanacaste hotel development unveiled
Source: http://www.journalcr.com
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
(Infocom) — The Costa Rican Chamber of Hotels (CCH) recently unveiled the study “Impact of Hotel and Real Estate Growth on Some Coastal Areas of Guanacaste,” which outlines a series of recommendations for regulating the hotel industry in the region. The study was conducted by architect Alberto Salas Roiz, a tourism consultant.
Guanacaste was chosen for the study for being the province with the biggest tourism potential, in addition to the fact that Liberia’s Daniel Oduber International Airport is experience explosive tourist demand and Guanacaste is today the province with the largest number of high-standard hotel rooms. Other factors include the challenges the province’s development may cause in the future in relation with natural resources and the availability of drinking water, a major concern here. Moreover, Guanacaste is where the tourism business sector has the most activity among all provinces, has the most tourism mega-projects, and previous tourism-related studies have been conducted here by entities such as the INCAE Business School (Guanacaste Cluster), the University of Costa Rica (UCR), the National University (UNA), and the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT).
Among other goals, the study seeks to learn how hotel and real estate growth is taking place in some coastal areas characterized by constant change; determine the impact of the competition between the hotel and real estate sectors; and analyze the consequences of mixed tourism-residential projects and the proliferation of second homes in tourist destinations. Additionally, the study attempts to diagnose the province’s overall growth and assess its environmental, social and economic impact, placing emphasis on the interaction between these variables; outline actions to be taken and offer recommendations that would help with coastal planning in Costa Rica; and propose actions that could be implemented to minimize negative impacts on the tourism and hotel industries, making a mark on the government entities charged with drafting tourism-related policies.
The study found that there has been a sharp increase in the permits issued in the past year and a half, compared to the 2002-06 period, when the first study in the region was conducted. The increases were 171 percent in homes; 10.5 percent to 38 percent a year for condominium complexes; 10.7 percent to 60 percent for apartments; and 6.6 percent to 27.3 percent a year for hotels. The districts with the highest growth are Liberia and Nacascolo (Liberia); Sardinal (Carrillo); and Tempate, Cabo Velas and Tamarindo (Santa Cruz). There’s important activity in other districts such as Nosara and Samara (Nicoya); Bagaces and Fortuna (Bagaces); Tronadora, Tierras Morenas and Arenal (Tilaran).
“The strongest cantons are Liberia, Carrillo and Santa Cruz, as the three of them encompass 90 percent of the total rooms to be built. However, other cantons such as Hojancha, Bagaces and Tilaran are showing important activity, and others waiting to wake up are La Cruz, Abangares and Nandayure, depending on whether certain future projects materialize,” Salas pointed out.
According to the CCH study, an adequate follow-up on the ground is not given to hotel activity due to the province’s deficient municipal operation, as neither municipalities nor government institutions represented in the region provide enough resources to technical teams. Other limitations found by the study include lack of information by local governments and state entities; strong lack of statistics in research topics and detailed information about the real estate industry.
GROWTH FORECAST
Regarding the prospect for hotel and real estate growth in Guanacaste, the study indicates that there are still many holes in available information that would boost forecasts. Likewise, the report points out that in the big projects being built or proposed, both hotels and residences will complement each other — such as in the case of Peninsula Papagayo and Reserva Conchal, just to cite two well-planned developments.
“Most of the rooms will have good tourist quality, regardless of whether or not they have an ICT tourism certification, which is key to turning Guanacaste into a luxury destination at the international level,” the report stated. “Upcoming construction projects go from the short and medium terms (the Costa Rican Chamber of Construction estimates that this boom will cover the next two years, despite the real estate crisis in the United States) to the long term in the case of the large tourism projects, which will be developed gradually.”
Added Salas: “It has been observed, and this trend continues, that small and mid-sized developers don’t appear to be very interested in the hotel business, but in real estate, because it produces profit in the short term. This is illustrated by comparing the previous study (which encompassed six Guanacaste districts, all of them in Carrillo and Santa Cruz), which registered 36,665 rooms, while in the past year a half there have been 77,726 rooms reported. This is an increase of 211 percent in projected rooms.”
The study concludes that the various sets of data available regarding the hotel and real estate industries point to the fact that there are no adequate inter-institutional mechanisms to measure this sector of the economy, and that projects in rural subdivisions tend to evade infrastructure-related requirements and responsibilities of a formal residential development.
Regarding the fiscal arena, the report indicates that collection of construction taxes are affected by under-reporting, whether in the number of square meters of projects or the total costs that are disclosed, as many projects are conducted without official permits or are built and then pay fines. “In the municipal records you find construction permits that were given for social-interest (low income) housing when the houses are really for tourist lodging,” Salas said.
Additionally, the report came to the conclusion that ICT still hasn’t taken strong actions to lower negative impacts on the hotel sector. The tourism board needs to revise both the concept and the scenario for growth outlined in the National Tourism Development Plan (PNDT), and the report add that its strategy for creating so-called Sustainable Development Centers appears to be in contradiction with the accelerated growth of real estate currently taking place.
The study also offers a forecast of what the region might look like in the future. It predicts that in the coastal area between Cabuyal, north of Papagayo, and Junquillal, a dense tourism corridor will consolidate that will compete with other international destinations such as Cancun-Mayan Riviera in Mexico and the Florida coast between Ft. Lauderdale and the Keys. As this occurs, the predominance of natural tourism will give way slowly to a more “artificial” tourism, and the acceleration of urbanization will be inevitable. This, in turn, will gradually result in the loss of tourism market, although the interest of people to come and live in the country will increase.
“In other coastal areas, for example from Soley to Playa Rajada in the canton of La Cruz, from Junquillal to Bejuco in Nandayure, and in the periphery of Lake Arenal there will be other less dense corridors, where the presence of nature and natural landscapes will be more significant. There will also be a consolidation of a tourist corridor along the highways between Liberia and the intersection to El Coco and, with less density, between Liberia and Bagaces,” Salas said.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The consultant recommended to carry out a larger analysis of the complex topic of hotel and real estate development in Guanacaste, with the consensual participation of various sectors (private, public and social). He also recommended asking ICT to revise and update official development plans that take into consideration the growth of both hotel and non-hotel projects.
“(It’s important) to ask INVU (the National Housing and Urban Development Institute) to move from a merely urban concept in its regulatory plans to one that considers an integral organization of municipal territories, the tourism space considered among them,” the report indicates. “All of this needs to be done through the above-mentioned multi-sector participation, which implies a paradigm shift involving an emphasis on land-use sustainability.”
Another recommendation is to request INVU, ICT and the Municipal Promotion and Consultation Institute (IFAM) to conduct a study of how projects proposed and approved by local governments and state institutions as part of coastal regulatory plans will impact the country’s coasts. It’s important, the report adds, that all players involved coordinate planning actions in consultation with the Land Registry Regularization Program, as well as with other government entities, including the ministries of transportation, environment and planning.
The study also suggests supporting the companies involved in the Land Registry Regularization Program and asking them to take in consideration these recommendations when drafting regulatory plans for Guanacaste; and supporting approval of the Water Resources Law in Congress and a possible moratorium in future land-use permits in the most affected areas, at least while the regulatory plans previously mentioned are complete; and supporting the recently passed executive decree that establishes regulations for constructions in coastal regions beyond what’s stipulated by the Land-Maritime Zone laws.
The study also calls on a variety of public and private entities to promote participatory planning. These entities include ICT, INVU, IFAM, the ministries of transportation and the environment, and municipalities; the National Chamber of Tourism, the Federation of Regional Chambers of Tourism, the Costa Rican Chamber of Construction, and the Costa Rican Development and Investment Board (CINDE); plus universities, NGOs, and community development associations.
Other recommendations deal with supporting the reorganization of efforts to attract investment for the hotel and real estate sectors within a framework of sustainability that would help keep Costa Rica competitive as a privileged tourism destination worldwide; and supporting improvements in the existing mechanisms for monitoring sustainability, whether by the state or by the Administrative Environmental Court, the Environmental Technical Secretariat, ICT, the private sector, and other sectors such as universities and civil society organizations.
Finally, the study proposes reviewing current legislation in the leasing of real estate properties in order to incorporate variables of rentals to foreign visitors, this with the goal of achieving more tax fairness; seeking to create a broader alliance between organizations representing the hotel and real estate sectors to seek integral solutions to issues affecting both of them, with a focus on sustainability.
According to Tourism Minister Carlos Ricardo Benavides, “it’s very important that these recommendations are presented early. I continue to believe that Costa Rica must bet on sustainability in its development, and I’m not only referring to tourism development. For that, we need clear rules.”
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
(Infocom) — The Costa Rican Chamber of Hotels (CCH) recently unveiled the study “Impact of Hotel and Real Estate Growth on Some Coastal Areas of Guanacaste,” which outlines a series of recommendations for regulating the hotel industry in the region. The study was conducted by architect Alberto Salas Roiz, a tourism consultant.
Guanacaste was chosen for the study for being the province with the biggest tourism potential, in addition to the fact that Liberia’s Daniel Oduber International Airport is experience explosive tourist demand and Guanacaste is today the province with the largest number of high-standard hotel rooms. Other factors include the challenges the province’s development may cause in the future in relation with natural resources and the availability of drinking water, a major concern here. Moreover, Guanacaste is where the tourism business sector has the most activity among all provinces, has the most tourism mega-projects, and previous tourism-related studies have been conducted here by entities such as the INCAE Business School (Guanacaste Cluster), the University of Costa Rica (UCR), the National University (UNA), and the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT).
Among other goals, the study seeks to learn how hotel and real estate growth is taking place in some coastal areas characterized by constant change; determine the impact of the competition between the hotel and real estate sectors; and analyze the consequences of mixed tourism-residential projects and the proliferation of second homes in tourist destinations. Additionally, the study attempts to diagnose the province’s overall growth and assess its environmental, social and economic impact, placing emphasis on the interaction between these variables; outline actions to be taken and offer recommendations that would help with coastal planning in Costa Rica; and propose actions that could be implemented to minimize negative impacts on the tourism and hotel industries, making a mark on the government entities charged with drafting tourism-related policies.
The study found that there has been a sharp increase in the permits issued in the past year and a half, compared to the 2002-06 period, when the first study in the region was conducted. The increases were 171 percent in homes; 10.5 percent to 38 percent a year for condominium complexes; 10.7 percent to 60 percent for apartments; and 6.6 percent to 27.3 percent a year for hotels. The districts with the highest growth are Liberia and Nacascolo (Liberia); Sardinal (Carrillo); and Tempate, Cabo Velas and Tamarindo (Santa Cruz). There’s important activity in other districts such as Nosara and Samara (Nicoya); Bagaces and Fortuna (Bagaces); Tronadora, Tierras Morenas and Arenal (Tilaran).
“The strongest cantons are Liberia, Carrillo and Santa Cruz, as the three of them encompass 90 percent of the total rooms to be built. However, other cantons such as Hojancha, Bagaces and Tilaran are showing important activity, and others waiting to wake up are La Cruz, Abangares and Nandayure, depending on whether certain future projects materialize,” Salas pointed out.
According to the CCH study, an adequate follow-up on the ground is not given to hotel activity due to the province’s deficient municipal operation, as neither municipalities nor government institutions represented in the region provide enough resources to technical teams. Other limitations found by the study include lack of information by local governments and state entities; strong lack of statistics in research topics and detailed information about the real estate industry.
GROWTH FORECAST
Regarding the prospect for hotel and real estate growth in Guanacaste, the study indicates that there are still many holes in available information that would boost forecasts. Likewise, the report points out that in the big projects being built or proposed, both hotels and residences will complement each other — such as in the case of Peninsula Papagayo and Reserva Conchal, just to cite two well-planned developments.
“Most of the rooms will have good tourist quality, regardless of whether or not they have an ICT tourism certification, which is key to turning Guanacaste into a luxury destination at the international level,” the report stated. “Upcoming construction projects go from the short and medium terms (the Costa Rican Chamber of Construction estimates that this boom will cover the next two years, despite the real estate crisis in the United States) to the long term in the case of the large tourism projects, which will be developed gradually.”
Added Salas: “It has been observed, and this trend continues, that small and mid-sized developers don’t appear to be very interested in the hotel business, but in real estate, because it produces profit in the short term. This is illustrated by comparing the previous study (which encompassed six Guanacaste districts, all of them in Carrillo and Santa Cruz), which registered 36,665 rooms, while in the past year a half there have been 77,726 rooms reported. This is an increase of 211 percent in projected rooms.”
The study concludes that the various sets of data available regarding the hotel and real estate industries point to the fact that there are no adequate inter-institutional mechanisms to measure this sector of the economy, and that projects in rural subdivisions tend to evade infrastructure-related requirements and responsibilities of a formal residential development.
Regarding the fiscal arena, the report indicates that collection of construction taxes are affected by under-reporting, whether in the number of square meters of projects or the total costs that are disclosed, as many projects are conducted without official permits or are built and then pay fines. “In the municipal records you find construction permits that were given for social-interest (low income) housing when the houses are really for tourist lodging,” Salas said.
Additionally, the report came to the conclusion that ICT still hasn’t taken strong actions to lower negative impacts on the hotel sector. The tourism board needs to revise both the concept and the scenario for growth outlined in the National Tourism Development Plan (PNDT), and the report add that its strategy for creating so-called Sustainable Development Centers appears to be in contradiction with the accelerated growth of real estate currently taking place.
The study also offers a forecast of what the region might look like in the future. It predicts that in the coastal area between Cabuyal, north of Papagayo, and Junquillal, a dense tourism corridor will consolidate that will compete with other international destinations such as Cancun-Mayan Riviera in Mexico and the Florida coast between Ft. Lauderdale and the Keys. As this occurs, the predominance of natural tourism will give way slowly to a more “artificial” tourism, and the acceleration of urbanization will be inevitable. This, in turn, will gradually result in the loss of tourism market, although the interest of people to come and live in the country will increase.
“In other coastal areas, for example from Soley to Playa Rajada in the canton of La Cruz, from Junquillal to Bejuco in Nandayure, and in the periphery of Lake Arenal there will be other less dense corridors, where the presence of nature and natural landscapes will be more significant. There will also be a consolidation of a tourist corridor along the highways between Liberia and the intersection to El Coco and, with less density, between Liberia and Bagaces,” Salas said.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The consultant recommended to carry out a larger analysis of the complex topic of hotel and real estate development in Guanacaste, with the consensual participation of various sectors (private, public and social). He also recommended asking ICT to revise and update official development plans that take into consideration the growth of both hotel and non-hotel projects.
“(It’s important) to ask INVU (the National Housing and Urban Development Institute) to move from a merely urban concept in its regulatory plans to one that considers an integral organization of municipal territories, the tourism space considered among them,” the report indicates. “All of this needs to be done through the above-mentioned multi-sector participation, which implies a paradigm shift involving an emphasis on land-use sustainability.”
Another recommendation is to request INVU, ICT and the Municipal Promotion and Consultation Institute (IFAM) to conduct a study of how projects proposed and approved by local governments and state institutions as part of coastal regulatory plans will impact the country’s coasts. It’s important, the report adds, that all players involved coordinate planning actions in consultation with the Land Registry Regularization Program, as well as with other government entities, including the ministries of transportation, environment and planning.
The study also suggests supporting the companies involved in the Land Registry Regularization Program and asking them to take in consideration these recommendations when drafting regulatory plans for Guanacaste; and supporting approval of the Water Resources Law in Congress and a possible moratorium in future land-use permits in the most affected areas, at least while the regulatory plans previously mentioned are complete; and supporting the recently passed executive decree that establishes regulations for constructions in coastal regions beyond what’s stipulated by the Land-Maritime Zone laws.
The study also calls on a variety of public and private entities to promote participatory planning. These entities include ICT, INVU, IFAM, the ministries of transportation and the environment, and municipalities; the National Chamber of Tourism, the Federation of Regional Chambers of Tourism, the Costa Rican Chamber of Construction, and the Costa Rican Development and Investment Board (CINDE); plus universities, NGOs, and community development associations.
Other recommendations deal with supporting the reorganization of efforts to attract investment for the hotel and real estate sectors within a framework of sustainability that would help keep Costa Rica competitive as a privileged tourism destination worldwide; and supporting improvements in the existing mechanisms for monitoring sustainability, whether by the state or by the Administrative Environmental Court, the Environmental Technical Secretariat, ICT, the private sector, and other sectors such as universities and civil society organizations.
Finally, the study proposes reviewing current legislation in the leasing of real estate properties in order to incorporate variables of rentals to foreign visitors, this with the goal of achieving more tax fairness; seeking to create a broader alliance between organizations representing the hotel and real estate sectors to seek integral solutions to issues affecting both of them, with a focus on sustainability.
According to Tourism Minister Carlos Ricardo Benavides, “it’s very important that these recommendations are presented early. I continue to believe that Costa Rica must bet on sustainability in its development, and I’m not only referring to tourism development. For that, we need clear rules.”
Number of tourists using Liberia airport continues to grow
Source: http://www.journalcr.com
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com
(Infocom) — The influx of passengers at Liberia’s Daniel Oduber International Airport reached 156,028 during the first three months of 2008, according to data provided by the Civil Aviation General Administration.This number represents a 13 percent increase compared to the first quarter in 2007, based on estimates by the Guanacaste Chamber of Tourism (CATURGUA).According to CATURGUA’s statistical analysis of passenger traffic at Daniel Oduber during the recently finished high tourist season, 58 percent of travelers were men to 42 percent women. A little over half of them (51 percent) were individuals aged 30-49 years, with a college education (47 percent), and with annual incomes between $71,000 and $300,000.The analysis also indicated that most of these travelers were retirees, followed by educators and business managers or administrators. Most of the tourists entering Costa Rica through the Liberia terminal came from the United States (74 percent), followed by Canadian residents (26 percent).
The report adds that average spending by these travelers reached $2,251, and the most commonly visited places were Papagayo, Tamarindo, Conchal and Flamingo.
New delay in airport expansion
The announcement about the increase in passengers at Daniel Oduber was made the same day when the Civil Aviation Technical Council (CTAC) informed that expansion works at this airport will be delayed once more — this time because CTAC modified the bidding packet for the project, which led to giving more time to receive proposals from interested firms. This time, the change indicated the terminal concessionaire won’t be required to build the boarding bridges at the new terminal.
The decision to eliminate the construction of the boarding bridges from the terminal’s project means the Costa Rican government will have to conduct such works on its own. Additionally, the CTAC’s decision seeks to offer more competitive rates by reducing the cost of installing such bridges.
This new change to the bidding packet also means that the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) will need to establish a new rate model for the airport’s operation.
The completion of the new terminal and other airport expansions in Liberia was scheduled for November 2009, but it’s possible this new change will delay commencement of the project’s construction, which has a budget of $19 million.
The report adds that average spending by these travelers reached $2,251, and the most commonly visited places were Papagayo, Tamarindo, Conchal and Flamingo.
New delay in airport expansion
The announcement about the increase in passengers at Daniel Oduber was made the same day when the Civil Aviation Technical Council (CTAC) informed that expansion works at this airport will be delayed once more — this time because CTAC modified the bidding packet for the project, which led to giving more time to receive proposals from interested firms. This time, the change indicated the terminal concessionaire won’t be required to build the boarding bridges at the new terminal.
The decision to eliminate the construction of the boarding bridges from the terminal’s project means the Costa Rican government will have to conduct such works on its own. Additionally, the CTAC’s decision seeks to offer more competitive rates by reducing the cost of installing such bridges.
This new change to the bidding packet also means that the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP) will need to establish a new rate model for the airport’s operation.
The completion of the new terminal and other airport expansions in Liberia was scheduled for November 2009, but it’s possible this new change will delay commencement of the project’s construction, which has a budget of $19 million.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)