Wearing T-shirts that read:

“Costa Rica Tourism = Death”
-Irresponsible Government
-Doesn’t Apply the Law
-No Licenses
-No security measures
-No rescue measures

The parents of three of the foreign victims of a rafting accident that occurred last October in Costa Rica, protested during a tourism fair in New York City and another one in Spain.

The tragic accident occurred when a group of 14 friends traveled from Florida to Costa Rica to celebrate a bachelor party, they decided to go rafting at the Naranjo River in Quepos and several of the rafts capsized, 4 of the tourists died (Ernesto Sierra, Jorge Caso, Sergio Lorenzo and Andres Denis); all victims were between the ages of 25 and 35, the fifth victim was a Costa Rican tour guide.

Parents of the victims consider that authorities in Costa Rica do not have enough control over adventure tourism activities and qualify the promotion of the country as a tourism destination as “irresponsible and unscrupulous” ; due to this, they decided to protest in front of the country’s stand at the tourism fairs the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT) was part of in both New York and Spain.

“They were the victims of 4 unscrupulous people that represented Quepoa Expedition, a rafting company that even though was operating since 2012 it did not comply with the minimum requirements established by law in Costa Rica. The Costa Rican Government has a huge failure when it comes to applying the security regulations of Adventure Tourism and these failures allow companies like Quepoa Expeditions to operate without following regulations or proper controls”, reads the press release offered by the parents of the victims.

Tour companies, like most other companies in the country are regulated by the Ministry of Health and the local Municipalities; these entities are the ones in charge of granting licenses and permits, in fact, Tourism Chambers in the country have proposed that it should be ICT the institution in charge of granting licenses and overseeing these companies; as it stands right now, ICT’s function is to promote tourism to the country, they do not have the power to regulate tour companies; at most, they provide training and certifications but these are voluntary.

Members of ICT expressed that when it comes to tourism, travelers must always request information on the tour companies and services they are hiring, including licenses, operating permits, certifications, references, and ensure that all equipment and gear being used is appropriate and in good conditions.

The case is currently under investigation by the Judiciary Investigative Police (OIJ).