Source: Marina PapagayoIn 2008, just ten days before Christmas, one of Costa Rica's premier marinas inaugurated its operations against the backdrop of one of the worst financial crises in history. It was a day full of guarded hope for the principals of Marina Papagayo, located on the peninsula of the same name in the province of Guanacaste. Five years later, the marina looks back at its many acco...

Source: Wikimedia Commons As part of the ongoing love affair between Ticos and junk food, the significant expansion of quick-service restaurants (QSR) vastly overcame similar efforts by casual-dining and full-service restaurants franchises in Costa Rica during 2013. It's no longer major brands such as McDonald's and KFC seeking profits in Costa Rica, even smaller players such as Nathan's Famou...

Receipt for $7 to cross into Nicaragua from Costa RicaThe Costa Rica Star has recently published information about receiving your permanent residency in Costa Rica to avoid border runs, wasting time, and money. I read every article I could get my hands on regarding the new tax required to leave Costa Rica at the Nicaragua pedestrian border. According to news sources, I could pay the fee at any...

Source: palmrealestatecr.com After a tepid 2012, the housing market in Costa Rica got off to an auspicious start in 2013. Construction starts picked up considerably in the first quarter, and healthy demand for commercial properties gave a major boost to the economy during most of the year. Activity in the residential market was lukewarm at the beginning of the year, but by September it had bec...

A major pizza retail chain from Spain is looking to capture the burgeoning franchise market in Costa Rica. Telepizza has about 1,200 locations around the world and employs about 25,000 people who make, serve and deliver delicious pizza. It will not be an easy undertaking for Telepizza, however, considering the troubles that major brands such as Domino's and Pizza Hut have experienced in Costa Rica...

In Costa Rica, the traditional procrastinating philosophy of “there's always tomorrow” often gets in the way of big business. Such is the case with the leviathan National Insurance Institute (Spanish acronym: INS), which recently reported that more than 60 percent of marchamos (vehicle circulation permits in Costa Rica) for 2014 have not yet been paid. With almost 1.2 million registered vehicle...

Manuel Briceño Jimenez opened Carnicería La Colonial in downtown Samara three months ago. In Nicoya, he has another butcher’s shop with the same name 300 meters from the Alfaro bus station. “Samara is a market we decided to enter because many customers we have in Nicoya told us to go to Samara. We wanted to cover that area and please our customers with a good product at the same prices as in Ni...

Are we able to understand large amounts of information more easily with comprehensive images? On December 11th, international journalists, developers, and designers gathered at the Universidad National Costa Rica in Nicoya for a conference on Data Visualization sponsored by Voice of Guanacaste. The workshop was led by Brazilian journalist and Knight Fellow Mariana Santos and co-created by Voice...

Artist rendering of a master bathroom in the Croc's Casino Resort condominium development in Jaco beach Costa RicaOver the last few months, Jaco Beach has become Costa Rica's busiest real estate market, and there is a very strong demand for condos. For the most part, supply is adequate thanks to a few development projects, but buyers are looking for more than just condos for sale in Jaco Beach...

Lexus Dealership at Avenida Escazu Income inequality grew in Costa Rica during 2013, but not as much as in other nations. There are now about 100 individuals in Costa Rica whose net worth is more than $30 million, up from 85 a year ago; however, the super-rich in this country are less than in any other Central American nation -including Nicaragua. According to a recent article by Cesar Augus...

Teaching English is a popular income source for expats in Costa RicaSo, you’d like to move abroad but don’t want to give up the perpetual habit of eating and maintaining a shelter?  No problem!  With some planning, and loads of patience, you can have it all. The five most common ways to earn a living in Costa Rica are: Telecommute Independent Consultant Property Management/ Real Estate ...

In addition to the typical December tamales, seafood is one of the most valued seasonal foods during the year-end season. For that reason the fishing of certain species is increasing and those such as conch and sea cucumbers are covertly harvested, despite being protected by law. On Sunday November 24, volunteers from the Red Cross regional marine group, while carrying out diving practice, f...

Mari Brenes exploring Guanacaste at Arenal Volcano Contact Mari Brenes at Palm Real Estate by calling (506) 8352-9923 or send an email to [email protected], her team is available to answer all of your questions about buying or renting condos in Guanacaste Costa Rica. North American and European house hunters who are setting their sights on the United States housing market are findin...

Data provided by Bing search for Mashable.comAccording to Mashable, a leading British-American website covering Internet technology and social media, Costa Rica is among the top 10 most-searched travel destinations in the world. The data was provided by Bing, Microsoft's flagship search engine property, and it shines a light on how tourism and hospitality operators are taking advantage of these t...

Just in time for the holidays, popular tourist destinations such as Playas del Coco in Guanacaste are about to see a major influx of visitors. Although tourism and hospitality operators in Guanacaste and across Costa Rica have been working diligently over the years in making sure that their staff is fluent in English, from December 13th to January 5th they will mostly be catering to the needs of S...

The Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport in Liberia (LIR), province of Guanacaste, is quickly becoming the favorite landing spot for visitors from Canada, Mexico and the United States, particularly for those whose first visit to Costa Rica involved landing at Juan Santamaria International Airport in Alajuela (SJO) and getting to know the lovable capital city of San Jose. A closer look at the...

Source: Facebook The battle over tipping and a livable minimum wage in the restaurant and hospitality industries of the United States has gone beyond that country’s borders and is now going global. The tipping conundrum involves many stakeholders: Servers, restaurant operators and the customers who support them. In Costa Rica, tipping is generally included in the bill; however, expat custom an...

Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Laureate whose Grameen Bank has been hailed as one of the most brilliant and functional concepts of poverty reduction through microfinance, was recently in Costa Rica to inaugurate Nutrivida, an enterprise he hopes will be a ticket out of poverty for women in Guanacaste, Limon, Heredia, and San Jose. Some aspects of the Nutrivida business model, howe...

Jaco Beach, Costa Rica. December 3, 2013 – The first-ever resort lifestyle residential project to bring the standards of quality in Las Vegas to Costa Rica is only a year away from completion. A newly-released video report on the progress of Croc's Casino Resort in Jaco Beach features developer Rory Hascall explaining his vision in detail, and it also brings to mind the new opening date: Decem...

Wage earners, self-employed professionals and businesspeople in Costa Rica who earn more than 752,000 colones (about $1,504) per month will be subject to withholding by the national revenue collection authority in 2014. Such is the Executive Decree issued by the Presidential Office in early October 2013. Workers who earn less than 752,000 colones per month in 2014 will be exempt from income tax ob...

For businesspeople and entrepreneurs who operate in the potentially lucrative tourism industry of Costa Rica, getting the coveted Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) from the National Board of Tourism (Spanish initials: ICT) is like finding the Holy Grail in the midst of a forest property that the government has not yet turned into a national park. More than 20 years into the CST program, ...

A recent analysis of Costa Rica's banking system by Ellen Brown, renowned author of works such as The Web of Debt and The Public Bank Solution: From Austerity to Prosperity, has been published and referenced in several online venues such as OpEdNews, EconIntersect, Counter Punch, Washington's Blog, Global Research (Canada), and others. Brown presides over the Public Banking Institute, and she come...

NAMU Travel Group San Jose, Costa Rica. November 25, 2013 – The top two online tourism and travel operators in Costa Rica are welcoming the high tourist season and expanding their operations accordingly. These two enterprises, The NAMU Travel Group and AnywhereCostaRica.com, have grown tremendously over the last few years and are ready to embrace the burgeoning recovery of the global tourism i...

The market seems to be ripe in Samara for hostels catering to backpackers and other budget travelers passing through the colorful coastal town. The first hostel opened in Samara about three years ago, and this year a few other people decided to open hostels, so now there are four economical options to choose from. Samara’s original hostel is Las Mariposas, located just 100 meters from the beach...

Source: President Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica By the end of the year, people from the Abangares canton of Guanacaste will enjoy a new and spiffy marketplace where farmers and handcraft artisans will be able to showcase and sell their goods. This past Friday, President Laura Chinchilla inaugurated Costa Rica's first roadside market, which is located right off the Pan American Highway near th...

Shark fins attached to spinal column to avoid being illegal, Costa Rica An alert for a method of shark finning aimed at avoiding detection of illegal practices has been circulated to all 190 INTERPOL member countries after a case was identified by Costa Rican authorities. An INTERPOL Purple Notice has been circulated for a modus operandi of the technique where only a band of skin to keep the...

Silver Elephant, one of the brands illegally sold in Costa RicaCosta Rica has witnessed a five-fold rise in illegal cigarette seizures since 2012, suggesting illegal groups are capitalizing on a new tobacco law to flood the market with contraband products. So far this year, Costa Rican authorities have recovered 12.3 million illegal packs of cigarettes, compared to just 2.3 million throughout ...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Despite a significant downturn for the tourism industry in Costa Rica from 2009 to 2012, the theme parks in the province of Guanacaste have proven very resilient. According to a recent analysis by business reporter Leticia Vindas Quiros of financial weekly El Financiero, the theme parks of Costa Rica's gold coast have managed to weather the economic storm and also pre...

The Judicial Investigation Organism (OIJ) arrested three lawyers, who are serving preventive prison terms related to property fraud. Many of the properties involved are in the Nosara area. The investigation gathered force after the December 2012 edition of The Voice reported on 16 cases of fraudulent property registration transfers. By October, the office of NCCC Consultores reported 22 cases, ...

Nine British companies will take part in the VI Summit of the American Police Summit (Ameripol), scheduled to take place in San José, Costa Rica, from November 11-13, at the Hotel Real Intercontinental. On November 12 and 13, British companies will have the opportunity to exhibit their vast range of security-related products and services at the venue. Organised by the UK Trade and Investment (U...

Related news: Bill Gates buys 6% stake in FCC through his investment funds. Madrid/London, November 6th, 2013 - FCC, the Citizens Services Group, has been chosen to reform the Juan Santamaria International Airport in Alajuela, 18 kilometers from San José (Costa Rica). FCC will construct a hangar at the country's main aeronautical facility worth 25 million euros, with a completion period of eigh...

Most North Americans are already familiar with gated communities and their benefits. In general, a gated community is an enclosed housing development usually with 24/7 manned security. Gated communities also offer amenities like a club house, community pool, sporting facilities, barbecue areas, many claim eco sustainability, and higher end communities may also offer such amenities as access to ons...

Although Costa Rica is far from being an offshore financial center, certain aspects of its commercial code and business regulations make her a corporate-friendly jurisdiction. Until recently, foreigners and expats formed business entities in Costa Rica for specific purposes typically related to acquiring real estate and motor vehicles, and also as part of certain immigration strategies. In recent ...

For all its tourism, real estate development and high-technology firms, Guanacaste leads Costa Rica as the province with the highest rate of unemployment. As recently reported on the pages of the Costa Rica Star, more than 40,000 adults in Guanacaste are currently out of work, which is something that the Ministry of Labor is handling as an emergency. According to a recent report written by Angi...

Hilo de Pez by Daniela SalazarIn Costa Rica, the province of Guanacaste is known for its significant contributions to the following industries: agriculture, real estate, tourism, aerospace, and scientific research. It is now the fashion industry's turn to grow in Guanacaste, and it seems to be taking place in Playas de Coco. Guanacaste is no stranger to fashion. After all, this province is the...

Despite pineapple cultivation tripling in the northern Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica over the past decade, it appears that Costa Rica’s 17-year-old ban on clearing “mature” forests is working, finds a study published recently in the journal Environmental Research Letters. The study, which was led by Matthew Fagan of Columbia University in the USA, found that since Costa Rica implemented its ...

On Friday, October 25, Vanessa Rosales Ardón, the president of the National Emergencies Committee (CNE), visited Nosara to officially inaugurate the works completed during the first stage of intervention on the Nosara River. The inauguration, originally scheduled for 2 p.m., was changed to noon because of the possibility of rain. Although the threat of rain loomed in the cloudy skies and it eve...

Turn left at the White Anchor heading into Playas del Coco, follow Peacock signs up to Hotel Chantel Guanacaste, Costa Rica – October 28th, 2013 – Hotel Chantel, an ocean-view boutique hotel located in the relaxing beach community of Playas del Coco in Costa Rica, is proud of its acquisition by a new owner and a fresh management team. From November 1st to November 15th, lucky guests at Hotel Ch...

Wikimedia Commons Although residential construction in Costa Rica fell by about 4 percent in the first six months of 2013 in comparison to last year, commercial construction in the province of Guanacaste expanded by nearly 20 percent. This increase in building activity is benefiting the overall economy of Guanacaste, a region where the value of commercial real estate has appreciated by nearly ...

Source: INCOFER A freight train project in Costa Rica aims to connect the communities of La Cruz in Guanacaste with the port city of Limon in the Caribbean. According to national newspaper La Nacion, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (Spanish initials: MOPT) recently put this ambitious plan on paper and hopes to begin construction in 2018. This project is part of Costa Rica's National...