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.
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Rick Neumann
Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
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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.
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