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Nicaragua
Beaches Gaining Popularity Among
Busy Americans
Tico Travel, long known for its
tours to Costa Rica, announced
today it is expanding its
Nicaraguan operations by
offering additional tours to the
Central American country.
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Granada, Nicaragua, despite it's
fast growth and increase in
tourism, keeps many of it's
traditions.
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In a related development, the Central American regional airline
Grupo TACA recently announced it has permanently reduced its fares
as much as 50 percent for destinations in Central America and
Mexico.
The price reduction will affect fares for flights between Costa
Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Belize
and Mexico.
Tico Travel says a growing number of customers like are choosing
Nicaragua.
Tico Travel is owned in whole or in part by brothers Steve and Rob
Hodel, who offer tours and packages to Nicaragua and are expanding
this part of their growing tour business.
Rob Hodel first traveled to Nicaragua in 1987 from Costa Rica
despite the ongoing civil war.
“I was young and invincible then, and was invited to a party in
Managua so I went from Costa Rica by bus. It was not the best idea,
so I was lucky that it was not worse,” he added. Hodel gives few
details of his adventure 17 years ago other than to say his guardian
angel was with him. But today, he is very bullish on Nicaragua.
“After I got out in 1987 I swore I would never go back and now I own
two houses in Granada,” he said.
As a specialist on Costa Rica and Central America, Rob Hodel now
travels year-round throughout the region, dropping in unannounced on
hotels and tour operators that are part of his Tico Travel network.
Hodel says there are a number of unknown positives about the country
that deserve notice. For example, in just the past couple of years
43 private nature reserves have been created in Nicaragua and nearly
20 percent of the country’s land is protected by law.
“For investors, the incentives could not be better, and for visitors
the value is enormous, so it’s just a matter of time before it’s the
next Costa Rica,” he said. “The only difference is that Nicaragua
does not have to attract tourists all the way from the United States
like Costa Rica did, Nicaragua just has to get them to come over the
border from Costa Rica to take a peak.”
“Its not that they don’t enjoy Costa Rica as much as they are
nostalgic for the days when there was nobody else on the beaches and
you rarely saw another tourist.”
According to Hodel, this probably won’t last very long. Several
hoteliers with properties in Costa Rica have already set up shop in
Nicaragua and more are on the drawing board. For anybody
contemplating traveling to or investing in Nicaragua, Hodel has this
advice.
“If you want are looking for an authentic experience right in your
own backyard, then the time to visit Nicaragua is now.”
Nicaragua to send peacekeeping troops to Haiti
Nicaragua's army chief General Javier Carrion announced Saturday
that his country would send 125 soldiers to join the UN mission in
Haiti.
He did not say when the contingent will depart, noting that the
deployment is waiting for final approval of the president and the
parliament.
In addition to a crisis arising from the ousting of President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide last February, Haiti also faces a severe
humanitarian crisis due to the tropical storm Jeanne.
The United Nations has a stabilization mission in Haiti. The troops,
led by Brazil, are mostly from Latin America.
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