Leaders Offer Support For New Hotels

TO lessen the number of tourists being turned away because of a shortage of hotel rooms in the country, the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) and the Costa Rican Coalition of Development Initiatives (CINDE) will promote the construction of new hotels in Costa Rica over the next five years, the organizations announced this week.With 15.19% growth in the number of tourists visiting Costa Rica last year and an estimated 16% rise for this year, the nation’s hotel capacity is not keeping pace, according the National Tourism Chamber (TT, July 1). The chamber estimates that Costa Rican hotels will turn away 39,000 tourists during the 2005- 2006 tourism high season.To combat this, the ICT and CINDE have developed a plan to attract investment and ease the process of setting up hotels, according to the daily La Nación. This plan includes a Web site that guides investors through the process of getting health, city and environmental permits, and makes all of ICT’s and CINDE’s statistics and information available in one place for investors.In addition, the institutes have developed a guide that lists the size and types of hotels needed in each region of the country, La Nación reported.