Costa Rica may see new airfare tax
Lawmakers have advanced a bill that would replace a national 3 percent hotel tax with a flat $15 tax on airplane tickets to Costa Rica.
The new tax would increase funding for the Arias administration´s efforts to market Costa Rica to tourists as a financial crisis pinches pockets around the world. In 2006, the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT) collected about $7.9 million from the tax on hotel fees. ICT would have collected about $17.5 million by charging $15 to each visitor arriving by air.
The bill also would promote in-country tourism by Ticos, who would not pay the new airfare tax, said lawmaker Ana Helena Chacón of the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC).
The bill, which survived an initial vote yesterday, would become law ones it clears a second vote and is signed by President Oscar Arias.
You may be interested

Amazon Web Services opens new Costa Rica office
Alejandro Zúñiga - February 25, 2021Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc., on Thursday opened a new office in Costa Rica to support the…

Costa Rica aims for urban natural parks to improve wellness in cities
The Tico Times - February 25, 2021The Costa Rican government this week issued a decree creating a new type of park within the framework of the…

Rule of law deteriorating in Nicaragua: UN rights chief
AFP - February 25, 2021The rule of law is deteriorating in Nicaragua ahead of November's general elections, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet warned Thursday,…