Source: Flickr CC UPDATE: we have published a new article answering some of our readers feedback, please read this one below and then CLICK HERE for an updated version with new insights. Author's Note: The use of the noun and adjective “American” in this article conforms to the definition in Princeton's WordNet: (A native or inhabitant of the United States), and the recommendation by the As...

Guanacaste coffee producers could suffer losses of at least 30% of their crops, according to the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (ICAFE) and, although there are no effects yet on the price of coffee, it could increase at the beginning of 2014. The worst impact would happen in the next harvest (2013-2014), since, according to Wilberth Roman, Manager of Coopepilangosta, Hojancha, a plague of blight ...

Ocean Mall is one of the 35 shopping centers that are being built in Costa Rica. If all goes well, inhabitants of Puntarenas will be able to visit Ocean Mall in 2015. The mall will have 22,000 square meters of construction within an area of ​​6 hectares, located one block west of the intersection between Route 23 and 17 (in Esparza). It will be similar in size to Outlet Mall in San Pedro, Monte...

If you would like The Costa Rica Star to publish your business press release, please contact us. The fifth International Banana Congress takes place on in Costa Rica. A conference which brings together large numbers of producers, businessmen, academics and researchers from around the world, directly related to the banana industry. Program highlights will include scientific research, policy a...

Students at Technical Professional High School (CTP) in Nicoya will be getting more hands-on experience thanks to a new interchange agreement signed between the school and CASATUR, the chamber of tourism in Samara. Students began working at different hotels in Samara in July. “Of all of the opportunities that one has to keep working after the internship, we have an 80 to 90 percent chance ...

Michael Kerry Deevy, a Canadian citizen, was sentenced today in connection with a series of business opportunity fraud ventures based in Costa Rica, the Justice Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced. Beginning in 2006, Deevy and his co-conspirators in Costa Rica are alleged to have fraudulently induced purchasers in the U.S. to buy business opportunities from companies known...

Wireless data and communications providers in Costa Rica spent almost two years in a relative state of post-monopoly peace. That changed a few days ago, however, with an announcement by former communications monopoly ICE with regard to its prepaid wireless rates. The cost of using ICE's extremely popular Short Message Service (SMS) went up by almost 100 percent, which means it now costs three colo...

The vice minister of foreign trade announced today that Peruvian exports to Costa Rica are expected to increase by 20% in the short term once the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries goes into effect. Carlos Posada, the vice minister, explained that the trade agreement is a “development tool that gives exporters the opportunity to explore not only commercial aspects, but also inve...

UCR campus Costa Rica's prized quality of life in the Central American region owes a lot to her focus on education. Since there is no military to spend money on, Costa Rica has had an opportunity to invest a greater portion of the national budget on academic affairs -particularly at the higher education level. As such, the number of colleges and universities in Costa Rica has increased along w...

If you would like The Costa Rica Star to cover your business press release, please contact us. CSS Corp, a global technology support and consulting company, today announced the opening of its Global Delivery Center in Costa Rica. The center, located at the Ultra Park Free Zone in La Aurora de Heredia, was inaugurated by Mrs. Laura Chinchilla, the President of Republic of Costa Rica today. T...

Walmart in Costa Rica was fined ¢4,395,000 colones (US$8,900 dollars) for “lack of information and misleading advertising” in a promotion of flat screen televisions. The National Consumer Commission said it fined the giant retailer following an investigation into complaints by 58 consumers, for price differences in the retailer’s promotion “Día más barato del año” (lowest price day of the year)...

Yesterday the firm MasterCard launched in Costa Rica, in partnership with Banco Nacional (BNCR), its first “Black” debit card for Latin America, aimed at customers with higher incomes. The MasterCard director for Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala, Gabriel Pascual, explained at a press conference that Costa Rica was chosen to introduce this product because it has a greater number of affluent cu...

Source: Flickr CC For several decades, the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) in Costa Rica was described as a spartan, no-frills facility for air travel. It wasn't until almost the end of the 20th century that tourists and expats coming to Costa Rica started to see features that are standard in many airports around the world, such as terminals, lounges, duty-free shops, and places to...

At the beginning of June, after receiving several reports of a scam from multiple towns, including Samara, Hojancha and Nosara, the Organismo de Investigacion Judicial (OIJ) was able to apprehend four suspects with the help of the Nosara Public Police Force, including three women and one man. The scam artists went to houses promising to give people appliances or TVs in exchange for their gold j...

If you are bored of the same flavor of chicken, prepare your tastebuds for a more legitimate and nutritional flavor than farm-fattened chicken. A group of families, mainly female entrepreneurs from La Virginia of Nicoya, have organized to develop a project to raise and market local criollo chickens to offer a more attractive and unusual product since the chicken that are commercialized in super...

Ongoing and projected investments indicate that there is still room for small and medium supermarkets to grow in Costa Rica. Small and medium sized supermarket chains are expanding in the greater metropolitan area in volume. One example is Super Mora, a mini chain of supermarkets from Puriscal which in 2014 will be expanding into Santa Ana, where there are plans to invest $3.7 million in the...

Photo of Hong Kong ChinaChina wants to have a business summit in Central America and what better place for them to have it than Costa Rica. The Chinese Business Summit for Latin America and the Caribbean will take place in Costa Rica between November 26th and 27th, 2013. The invited attendees include entrepreneurs, investors, and government officials. This is going to be the seventh confer...

Half of Costa Rica’s population does not have a bank account at a financial institution. In addition, 80% don’t keep their money in banks and 90% have no bank loans, leading them to be excluded in one way or another from the country’s formal financial system. That is the result of the most recent survey by the Encuesta de Inclusión Financiera en Costa Rica, conducted in late 2011 and includ...

Now this is living. Whether you are already retired or near retirement, the residences at Croc’s Casino Resort are an easy decision. Life is grand as you relax poolside, while dinner at your favorite resort restaurant has been personally prepared with love and catching a sunset from your residence balcony just becomes the norm. You deserve the finer things in life with the ease of a Costa Ri...

After 12 years of housing producers of local foods and products from the region, the agricultural market El Guayabo or La Guayabita market, located in the center of Nicoya, is going to receive a facelift. The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) will transfer 70 million colones ($140,000) in funds to remodel it. The funds will be channeled through the municipality. The director of...

Photo of FijiFiji and Costa Rica have formalized diplomatic relations at a ceremony at the Fiji Mission to the United Nations in New York, the Fijian government announced Saturday. The Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the UN, Ambassador Eduardo Ulibarri and his Fiji counterpart, Ambassador Peter Thomson, signed a joint communique establishing diplomatic relations between the two count...

Eight out of every ten trailers operating on Costa Rica’s roads have mechanical problems, the Policia de Tránsito (traffic police) has found. The statistic was provided by Germán Marín, director of the traffic police force. Bald tires, missing lights, faulty suspension and faulty brake systems are some of the problems found with 80% of the truck trailers in circulation. Owners of truck tr...

Los Angeles-based fund manager Paladin Realty has completed a deal to invest in a $10 million joint venture to build middle-income homes in San Jose, Costa Rica. Paladin is teaming with CSC Management and Development, S.A., one of the largest middle-income home builders in San Jose. The joint venture, which is expected to build 400 middle-income residential units with a total sales value of up ...

Costa Rica scrapped limits on dollar loans on Wednesday as external headwinds and weaker harvests pushed the central bank to cut the country's growth outlook sharply. Central Bank of Costa Rica President Rodrigo Bolanos cut the forecast for economic growth of the Central American nation in 2013 to just 3 percent, which would be the weakest expansion since a 2009 recession. The forecast was 4 pe...

When Costa Rica Surf Travel Company was created in 1999 their slogan was “The best place to check the surf in Costa Rica.” After 14 years they have not only earned the top position on Google when searching ‘Costa Rica surf’, but have helped thousands of surfers and their families find safe and comfortable places to stay, along with waves matching their skill level. Their website, www.CRsurf.com...

If you would like The Costa Rica Star to cover your Costa Rica business press release, please contact us for details. Well-known hotel in Costa Rica for its secluded luxury, prime location, amazing views, superb service and intimate setting, the Zephyr Palace reputation is now acknowledged worldwide by being voted for the 2nd consecutive year as the Top Hotel in Costa Rica and first time for Me...

This retail sector in Costa Rica comprises about 248 importers of second-hand clothes who are now looking at the middle class market. Although the prices of items range from $2 to $10, the large volumes handled by big chain stores make it a profitable business. Between 2007 and 2012, used clothing imports rose by 50%, 87% came from the U.S. and 10% from Canada. Last year alone, 21.7 mill...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Costa Rica's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by the year 2021 is becoming complicated by the increasing number of motor vehicles transiting her roadways. This would not be a problem if a great number of cars, trucks and motorcycles in Costa Rica were energy-efficient or featured low-emission systems, but the sad truth is that the majority of them aren't. Accord...

Article by CentralAmericaData.com with insights from Prensa Libre. Real estate projects in Costa Rica face a tough time expanding due to lack of drinking water in several areas of the country. Projects developed in cantons such as Escazu or Santa Ana are being affected by this problem, where local permits for the expansion of properties are held in limbo. "In Guayabo there was intere...

One of Latin America’s most exciting new hotel openings will be unveiled this December on the dramatic Papagayo Peninsula on the northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Andaz Papagayo will represent the debut of the Andaz brand in Latin America. A truly original and inventive resort designed by iconic Costa Rican architect Ronald Zurcher, Andaz Papagayo will showcase groundbreaking ‘naturalist’ d...

Source: Flickr Creative Commons There is a war going on in Costa Rica, although the belligerents are not infantry units taking positions across the provinces. Instead, the combatants go by the names of Grupo Gessa, Wal-Mart and others. Their objectives are clear: to get your hard-earned colones -though they will take your dollars as well- and to earn your continued patronage. Anyone can lose i...

The International Student Network (ISN) announced in July that U.S. educational institutions are now reaching out to Latin American college students to fill voids in technology, engineering and science enrollments, which have encountered substantial declines throughout the last several years. These specialties have the greatest demand for work in the United States, and Costa Rican undergraduates t...

Source: CRHoy.com CC License The government of Costa Rica could save up to $70 billion in infrastructure expenditures from now until 2050 by following the advice of the International Energy Agency (IEA). A recent research study by that agency, which was reported by Leticia Vindas Quiros of business weekly El Financiero, explains that Costa Rica has clear options in three major transportation c...

Source: Flickr Amid allegations of dubious funding, money laundering and even ties to powerful drug cartels, more than 100 pirate radio stations in Costa Rica will be investigated by public officials and law enforcement officers. According to National Chamber of Radio Sations (CANARA in Spanish) and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications (MICITT in Spanish), there are 13...

Good fences make good neighbors. It is easier to be friendly with your neighbor if neither of you trespasses upon the others property or privacy. For decades that hasn’t been the case between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, who at one time or another have been in a squabble over territory. The latest is a claim by Costa Rica’s Foreign Minister, Enrique Castillo, who on Monday accused Nicaragua of off...

It has been more than five years since public officials from the National Tourism Board in Costa Rica (known by the initials ICT in Spanish) traveled to Playas del Coco in Guanacaste to give their approval for an ambitious development project that will bring a massive luxury marina with enough dock space to accommodate almost 300 yachts and host of administrative and business facilities. The Ma...

The situation is more and more desperate for local fishermen, and here I’m referring to the ones that have a panga (small fishing boat), canoe or an off-board motor. The capitalist model of extraction and commercialization of fishing resources doesn’t allow for recovery, and the mistaken policies of the people in charge of organizing and directing fishing in Costa Rica, Incopesca (the Costa Ric...

There is a brand new tattoo shop opening in one of the beaches of Guanacaste, however the exact beach will not be mentioned as it is a secret, for now. The owner is seeking tattoo artists who have proven experience working in Costa Rica and also have their own tattoo equipment. There is a possibility to become a part owner in the business depending on the quality of the tattoo artist, the equip...

On Thursday Costa Rica’s leading newspaper, La Nacion announced the purchase of the Autódromo La Guácima speedway for US$12 million dollars, with the prospect of investing another US$28 million to turn the site into a centre for large-scale events. Located on 28.2 hectares in La Guácima, Alajuela - twenty minutes from the San Jose International Airport and just thirty minutes from downtown San ...

Source: Flickr Things seem to be going really well in the Central American region for Starbucks. According to a report by Luis Diego Quiros of Revista Summa, the Seattle-based coffee Goliath plans to open three more of its iconic coffeehouses in Central America by the end of 2013: One in Guatemala, one in El Salvador, and one in Costa Rica. In fact, if things go better than expected, there may ...