Airlines operating in Costa Rica finally can start including the country’s $29 exit tax into the cost of flights next week, according to Vice President Ana Helena Chacón, who made the announcement at the president’s weekly press conference at Casa Presidencial on Tuesday. But no airlines have yet announced when they will begin using the Exonet system.
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.
Costa Rica’s best known export, Real Madrid goalie Keylor Navas, has been named the country’s first official tourism ambassador during the FITUR tourism export in Madrid Thursday.
Tourism Ministry officials on Thursday reported that revenues from Costa Rica's travel sector last year totaled $2.6 billion, an 8.3 percent increase over the $2.4 billion registered in 2013, according to figures from the Central Bank.
Costa Rica’s Red Cross reported that 79 people died by accidents and other violent causes in the first 19 days of this month. That exceeds by 27 the number of deaths registered in the same period last year, when the Red Cross reported 52 deaths.
Media reports on Monday stating that Colombian carrier Avianca will suspend three of its flights from Costa Rica to Mexico, Brazil and Chile starting next month have alarmed many of the airline's customers. In a response, however, the airline denied that those routes will be cancelled or suspended.
That beautiful Thursday morning quickly turned to tragedy when the Pura Vida Princess capsized, drowning three tourists and leaving more than 100 passengers and crew fighting rough seas off the coast of Punta Leona. As the Coast Guard tried to muster a response, nearby fishermen and other private boats were responsible for rescuing many of the survivors.
Despite what some see as a threat to Costa Rica’s preferred status with U.S. tourists between new offerings in Cuba and Nicaragua, Tourism Minister Wilhelm von Breymann said the land of "pura vida” does’t have anything to worry about.
Southwest Executive Vice President Robert Jordan said that customers can expect fares as low as $130 one way from Baltimore-Washington International Airport and that the company’s discount reputation would hold true abroad with fares on average 30 to 40 percent lower than their competitors.