Can you provide me with any information, contacts and/or resources about opening a school of massage in Heredia? Thank you for any help you can provide.
Rick Neumann
Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
The Tico Times spoke with Dr. Javier Ortiz of the Centro de Balance Integral (224-0883), a massage school in San Pedro, east of San José. According to Ortiz, there are two options you can pursue for opening a school. If what you want is to offer diplomas backed by the government, then it is necessary to have the accreditation of one of two institutions: either the Superior Education Council (221-0398) or the National Training Institute (232-4422, www.ina.ac.cr). However, Ortiz cautioned, the process can be very complicated.
If you choose to forgo the accreditation, what remains is a simpler process of getting the proper operating permits from both the Ministry of Public Health (223-0333) and the Heredia Municipality (277-1400).
Ortiz emphasized it is important to clearly identify your business as a massage school and not a massage center, as many businesses that offer prostitution – which is legal in Costa Rica – advertise themselves as massage centers.
