The patent holder wants the owners of all canopy businesses operating in Costa Rica to apply for a license. He plans to collect royalties from canopy tours of $15 for every foreign tourist and $10 for locals.
Environment Minister Édgar Gutiérrez confirmed the Discovery Costa Rica project already has all environmental permits, and said it will supply water with its own wells.
Environmental groups believe a cableway to Chirripó peak would attract crowds that would overload the national park’s capacity and endanger the protected lands.
Authorities warned that National Police or Tourism Police officers will charge those responsible for tours into restricted areas with disobedience of authority.
Despite Costa Rica’s international reputation as an adventure tourism destination for the last 25 years, the industry is lightly regulated and safety requirements are largely at the discretion of individual businesses, according to interviews The Tico Times conducted with business owners and industry and government representatives.
Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) confirmed to The Tico Times that a European tourist died of an apparent heart attack while hiking in the remote Corcovado National Park in the southwestern Osa Peninsula Sunday afternoon.
A 40-year-old woman from the United States drowned in an accident on the Sarapiquí river Thursday, the Costa Rican Red Cross confirmed to The Tico Times.
Microsoft’s search engine Bing on Monday released its annual list of search trends for 2014, and Costa Rica tops the list for “most popular vacation destination among US holidaymakers.”
Businesses in the popular destinations of Puerto Jiménez, Golfito and Quepos are hoping for a spike in visits, primarily from U.S. and Canadian tourists, which would help increase demand for local goods and services.
