World Tourism Day 2010

World Tourism Day is celebrated everyday on Sept 27th by the United Nations and is to bring awareness of the importance and positive affect tourism can have on countries around the world. This year the theme is "Tourism and Biodiversity".

You cant pick a much better theme for Costa Rica to celebrate since the Tourism part seems to be picking up next year after a slow season and Biodiversity is Costa Rica's claim to fame. China will be hosting this years World Tourism Day.

Although for tourism in Costa Rica this is our slow season I do feel it is something that should be brought to the atttention and celebrated. It is an important day in the industry and many important things can be learned in advances in the industry in moving towards a more green economy and setting better Standards for Green Travel. Enjoy your Tourism & BioDiversity Day!!!

 

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Next Vacation: A Cruise or Costa Rica Eco-Tourism?

Image via WikipediaBefore my days of working in eco-tourism I went on cruises and I have to say I enjoyed them when I was a kid but now from what Ive learned Im going to lay this one out there nice and simple. A cruise ship is a large floating piece of junk. One cruise ship generates EACH DAY:

• 25,000 gallons of sewage from toilets each day
• 143,000 gallons of sewage from sinks, galleys, and showers
• 7 tons of garbage and solid waste
• 15 gallons of toxic chemicals
• 7,000 gallons of oily bildgewater

Not to mention the amount of over-eating, glutnous fest, artery clogging, health-care bill rising cost, (should I go on...?).

 Just go with Eco-Tourism its a No-Brainer

 Design Your Own Eco-Tourism Adventure

Source: NatGeo: GreenGuide

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Turrialba Volcano Might Re-Open?

Image by Costa Rican Resource via FlickrI personally declared it volcano week since it seems to be the topic of this blog for the last couple of days it seems the local newspaper is lending itself to help me out. La Nacion the main news paper in Costa Rica which I consider the most formal and proffesional came out with the most unproffesional and informal article I could imagine. It was about the idea of re-opening the Turrialbal Volcano, you can read the article in Spanish here.

If it is time to reopen the Turrialba volcano than fine lets do it but if its not than lets wait. I find it interesting that the only way to get to the crater in the rainy season would be for the US not to send warships down but to send some tanks down. The roads are horrible and with these rains I can imagine not much better. The roads in the article were not so much an issue in the article in arriving but during an emergency evacuation. The article then talks about how the volcano is letting out a lot of gas and that it could be dangerous to the tourist, uh? Does this mean like going to Poas and you should only stay at the crater for 30 minutes because of the gases being released or does this mean dangerous from the moment you arrive.

The suggestion from La Nacion is that you would have to hire a tourism proffesional company to take you to the top of the crater to be safe. I've got news for you I run a tourism proffesional company and I dont have a clue when the Turrialba volcano is safe or when it is not safe I just go by what the experts tell me. Well I hope they dont open the park today but if it is open for the next high season I will be looking forward to it it would be quite the plus to any costa rican family vacation with the activity it is displaying and quite the free back massage with the road to get there.

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Costa Rica Bailouts: Arenal Hotels in La Fortuna...

Don't even get me started on bailouts. I did not think my Costa Rican Travel blog would take me here but apparently it has. Just last week hotel owners in La Fortuna area (I will not mention Hotel names I would rather not get in a fist fight next time Im in the Arenal area) went to the government asking for bailout money to payback their loans. I thought this was hilarious and if the Costa Rican government thinks for a second to bail these hotels out I think its ridiculous. Not only because I've seen a few of these owners hanging out in the Disco and scooting around in their Jetskis on weekends (I can say this about some of the hotel owners not all)  but we are talking about hotels people. These are big business's but my gosh they are not that big where the government and tax payers money needs to step in. There are also some simple living hotel owners I'm sure that just decided to take a gamble and they lost and thats life. But others just dont want to let go of the lifestyle of luxury they have started living.

It turns out that a number of hotels in Arenal got GREEDY. There is no other way to put it. Things were going good and they wanted more. What happened is they over extended themselves, started living lifestyles they shouldnt, and got dealt a bad card (which the whole world gets everyonce in awhile).  Do I feel bad for them? Honestly? Yes,  I do. It sucks to lose money. I dont want to throw my sob story out there but I lost all my money in my first business which I did very well for myself and what had to happen as a result of losing it all: A LIFESTYLE CHANGE!

I feel like the Dali Llama's next book should be the secret to the recovery of a world recession which apparently nobody is getting it: A LIFESTYEL CHANGE! The USA didnt get it because they went ahead and bailed most of those companies out that showed up in their private jets to ask for their bailout money. Its funny from what I heard the hotel owners in La Fortuna are still driving around in their fancy SUV's which is no private jet but you get the picture.

Even after President Obama fired the CEO Wagoner of GM he still made out with millions. Thats what bailouts are. Put government money where it should be and not in the haImage by Jean-Sien Kin via Flickrnds of risk takers that have lost. Put the money into education, healthcare (we are going to need the money in healthcare with all the new fast food chains in Costa Rica in about 15 years, 29 new fast food chains in 2010), and whatever else you want but paying a hotel so a tourist can enjoy their hot-tub and massage and not paying a school so kids can not be crowded in a classroom and learn under adequate conditions is just craziness (keep inmind the tourist in hot tubs is what pays my bills so  I want the best for them but lets think level headed on this).  

Somebody asked me if the banks take the hotels what are they going to do with it. Our reservations office just spent 3 days last week trying to find space in Fortuna for two different groups next March and April. This is a good indication that things will be improving next year an estimated 2 million or more tourist will be arriving in Costa Rica. My advice for the bank would be to flip it or even better work something out with INA where they operate the hotel (the government educates locals in tourism) and they pay back the loan. Just a thought.

As for the hotel owners, shit happens and sometimes you have to walk right through it before you smell it. Maybe its time for a little lifestyle change in La Fortuna. There is a freakin Burger King in La Fortuna you cant tell me you didnt see this coming. If you have thoughts on this we would love to hear?

The gap between rich and poor in Costa Rica is spreading FAST. I dont want to talk negative but I do feel there needs to be some voices. Just drive through San Jose: Its RICH or POOR for now where in years to come it could be SUPER RICH or SUPER POOR. Again, I feel bad for these hotel owners but I dont think bailouts for society as a whole is going to fix the big picture which is learning a lesson and living a little bit more simply. Let me be clear. If you have the money and you want to live it up a little its fine. But understand if you dont have the money it is also fine to not have to live it up. I just feel if people gamble and they lose they lose. Thats why you shouldnt gamble with money that isnt yours.

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Costa Rica: Sit in Luxury and get Dwarfed by Nature

Image by Getty Images via @daylife I've got three hotels that TripAdvisor doesnt even have that much to say about. Yes, they have their comments because they are the almighty TripAdvisor and I better keep my mouth shut because their social network is doing a bit better than my blog. But if you want to visit some luxury hotels in Costa Rica that are completely dwarfed by nature then check these three places out. Two of the three places are brand new. These are three hotels spread out all over the country so it could make for a great vacation package, just an idea?

The first hotel I have in mind happens to be in Corcovado which is one of the most bio-diverse places on the planet. It use to be that if you wanted to visit Corcovado you had to wear rubber boots and get ready to rumble in the jungle. Well now it is a little different. If you are looking for luxury surrounded by 2.5% of our planets bio-diversity then check out Villas Corcovado. It is small which is what you want in this area. You want more monkeys than people. Yes, it is hard to get to. You dont get all this biodiversity in one area because there are 8 lane highways leading to the hotel entrance.  If you stay for a week the menu will start to repeat itself. Well, if you live in the jungle for a 24 hours you will probably find yourself eating the samething twice. Sort of look at it as super "luxury survival" and enjoy the adventure.

The second place is located in the center of the country which I have to say Im pushing a bit because I want to see tourism pick up in this area and start to pass through these small towns. The hotel is Costa Rican owned and is located in Bajos del Toro. This place is called El Silencio Lodge which means the Lodge of Silence. You can tell by the name this probably is not a good place for your college school kids to book their spring break trips this year. But it is an amazing place for a honeymoon or even a family vacation for just a night or two giving the chance for your kids to get a real feel for nature and its true essence.

The third hotel takes you almost to the Nicaraguan border. It is called the Rio Celeste HideAway Hotel. If you have heard me talk about Nayara in Arenal (voted by tripadvisor as the top hotel in the Arenal Volcano area) then you will like the Rio Celeste Hideway. First of all Rio Celeste is an absolutely beautiful hike which deserves a whole blog in itself. But this hotel is really something special. With no other hotel of its kind around it was a real pioneer to just decide to go out in the middle of this area surrounded by nature and go with the luxury. A place worth visiting if you love being surrounded by nature.

Well there you have it. Three places throughout Costa Rica that are completely surrounded by nature, away from it all, and in the comfort of sitting in luxury. I went ahead and linked the websites to the hotels but if your interested in us putting together a package with adventures and tours go ahead and contact us. Well as of now we have the best guides sitting here waiting to go on their next trip but if you wait to plan they you might get stuck with me. If anyone else has some hotels where you get dwarfed in nature and you want to share we would love to hear?

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$$$$ Secrets of Costa Rican Tourism $$$$

Image by Jake Wasdin via FlickrI love how the system works and if you are a big company or a taxi driver working the airport exit you pretty much run on the same system. The right way to run is to charge the tourist for the service you offer and what it is worth, NOTHING MORE & NOTHING LESS. I'm writing this post for the travelers that come to Costa Rica on a budget and end up traveling on there own. If you decided to travel with us it might not be the cheapest trip you can find but we can promise you that you get what you pay for as far as guiding knowledge and service which you can tell by their testimonials.

Everything is run off commisions here. This is good and bad. It is good because it gives a chance that everyone gets a piece of the pie. It is bad because in some cases you see a tourist buying a cake when all they should be spending is for a piece of a pie.  (Although I have seen tourist take this a little too far. Ive seen taxi drivers charge a correct fee and tourist think it was too much just because they figured they were getting charged too much because they were a taxi. Yes, there are tourist who get ripped off but there are also honest people also and lets not forget that. Actually there is a lot more honest people than dishonest ALOT!) If you rent a car and go to a zipline dont be afraid to talk the price down a little bit the chances are you can save yourself a few bucks. Im not telling you to not book your tour from tour desk or hotel reception, these people need to make a living after all also.

There are a million places to do tours in Costa Rica from rafting to ziplining and it never hurts to ask to bargain down the price. If you feel you are paying too much it never hurts to ask someplace else either. This also goes for hotels also. You can always ask for a discount at hotels. Most places deal with a net rate and a rack rate.

There are many types of tour companies that just make their living off commisions which is fine its just like some of the more common sites you probably will buy your airplane ticket sites from. There are other companies like ours that charge for the complete package from reservation services, guide services, and a tone of extras, and just a whole pakcage from start to finish. Hope this blog helped give you a little understanding of how some of economics of Costa Rican tourism runs here.

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Osa Peninsula Costa Rica

Image via WikipediaIt looks as if my last blog post sparked a little bit of controversy which is fine. If it was the language barrier or just opinion of my thoughts on Costa Rica some people did not like how I felt on the beaches of Costa Rica. Just to quickly make clear what I wanted to say in the last post. There is plenty to do in Costa Rica that does not involve beaches. Dont feel that you have to go to the beach when visiting Costa Rica.

Now in yesterdays blog the topic of some of the best beaches on the planet came up and that Costa Rica was home to many of them. I happen to agree that Costa Rica has some world class beaches such as Manuel Antonio and the beaches of Corcovado. I think the beaches of Corcovado are some of the most amazing places on the planet that a small percentage of tourist entering the country will visit. Well under the 2 million described in last weeks blog. Guanacaste has beautiful beaches and dont get me wrong if you pick Guanacaste for R&R you are going to love your stay but what you can get at Corcovado you can't get anywhere else on Earth.

Corcovado is the most biodiverse place on the planet. Just think about that for a second. Now read this article by CNN and understand that being able to see biodiversity you might want to take advantage of it. Costa Rica is doing a better job than most countries protecting these areas and we should thank them for it by visiting it. Its worth it, believe me. I understand Corcovado is not the easiest place on the planet to get too and that is probably one reason its bio-diversity has held on so well. So if you decide to go to other beaches in the different parts of the country there are plenty I'm sure you will enjoy and if you can take a morning or afternoon and visit a nearby National Park or Private Reserve and by gosh dont try and talk the price down acting like your a Tico if your just a good Spanish speaking Gringo.

Its always about the "BEST": What are the 3 worst beaches of Costa Rica?

If your interested in visiting the Osa with some of the top naturalist guides in Costa Rica give us a call or contact us at info@crrtravel.com or visit our site http://www.crrtravel.com/.

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Don't Visit Beaches on a Costa Rica Vacation?

Image via WikipediaWhy on Earth would this be the title of my blog. When you say a  Costa Rica Vacation you think of tropical paradise and when you say tropical paradise you think of white sandy beaches. I will start by saying Costa Rica does have some excellent beaches and if you absolutely have to go to a beach on every single vacation of your life then have at it Im sure you wont be bummed by the beaches here in Costa Rica.

If you have been to a few beaches which I'm sure most of you have because beaches are all over the planet then you might want to do a little bit more research in to what else Costa Rica has to offer. Most tourist come to Costa Rica with just a one week and they opt to have the beach at the last 3 days of there trip. I support this idea because there are many beaches that have many fun activities to do in the area besides just laying in the sun or just surfing.

The point of this post is if you have only a week or 10 days on your Costa Rican family vacation in the country dont feel like you have to go to the beaches of Costa Rica. Costa Rica does not have the most beautiful beaches in the world. There are many more beaches in the America's alone that top the Costa Rican beaches. Yes, Manuel Antonio is up there but its just too touristy. With the time you have do some research or even contact us and find out about some of the most amazing places in the middle of the rainforest or cloudforest. These places are some of the most unique places on the planet and you dont want to pass it up.

Our advice to you is to think about it do your research and don't be afraid to ask. If you have questions about places that we feel are better than being at the beach please contact us.

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Costa Rica Expects 2 million Tourist in 2010

Image via WikipediaFor the second time in History Costa Rica expects to have 2 million tourist visit the country. According to ICT (Instution of Costa Rican Tourism: English translation) Costa Rica is seeing a 9.6% increase in tourist after the 2009 year which was the year of the recession.

After a very tough year for many hotel and tour companies this is very good news for anyone in the Costa Rica tourism industry. Costa Rica tourism has gone through some rough times in the last years with hotels closing and the small family owned places not being able to hold on with the loans they thought they were going to be able to keep up with after the incredible 2008 year. Its good to see now that there is hope for most companies.

Tourism around the world is up between 3% and 4% so at almost a 10% increase we are very pleased and can only hope for better things to come in the future.

My personal feeling as a blog writer and a small tour company (Costa Rican Resource) owner in Costa Rica I never want to see an economic crisis happen anywhere at anytime but the fact that it affected the tourism industry when it did in Costa Rica I feel will have some benefits to it in the future. Some of the big investors are out of here that had big plans to just develop, develop, & develop.

 It also has allowed the tourism industry to put its feet back on the ground and take a few deep breathes and see exactly which direction things should be going. I feel it might have been natures way of saying "Hey can I get a breather here? I need a break for second!". So we will see what happens the second time around as 2 million tourist come into the country. Lets just try and keep them aware of the importance of the environment and the people. If you have any thoughts on this would love to hear your comments?

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Hospitals for Plastic Surgery in Costa Rica

Image by thinkpanama via FlickrWhen you think of Costa Rica you often think of a family vacation or white water rafting, the rainforest, or a zipline adventure. What you might not of thought about is getting a new nose, some cosmetic surgery, new set of teeth, or new set of anything else you might have on your list of sets of things to get.

There are now 6 clinics and Hospitals in Costa Rica that are approved by PROMED. This organization was started to promote medical tourism in Costa Rica and keep a standard level on how things should be run. To put it easy it was becoming a bit of the wild wild west. Not to say that you cant still get good work done from places that are not approved by PROMED but just do your research.

This year alone 30,000 tourist are scheduled to visit Costa Rica for medical tourism which is a 5,000 increase from last year. With PROMED they hope to increase this up to 100,000 tourist/patients within the next 5 years. Here is a list of the 5 Hospital and Clinics approved by PROMED:

Costa Rican Plastic Surgery Hospitals

1.) Clinica Biblica
2.) Hospital Cima San Jose
3.) Hospital Hotel La Catolica
4.) Clinica Unibe
5.) Clinica Nova Dental
6.) Homewatch Caregivers

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5 Jaguar Facts

If you decide on Costa Rica for a family vacation or a student travel trip it is because you are probably looking for some adventure and wildlife. One of the most sought after animals of the rainforest is the Jaguar. If you happen to see one of these on your vacation to Costa Rica you will join a very small group of eco-tourist who were lucky enough to see the beautiful animal who might not have much more time left on this planet. Take a look at some interesting facts about the Jaguar.

1.) Is a very good swimmer.

2.) The Jaguar is Endangered due to loss of natural habitat.

3.) 3rd largest cat on the plante behind the lion and tiger.

4.) Eats small mammals. (We are small mammals!!!!!!)

5.) They hunt at night. (This is one reason why tourist rarely see them)

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