Decline in Tourism to
Costa Rica's "Gold Coast"
Cuba Agrees To
Restore Diplomatic Ties with Costa Rica
Indefinite
Taxi Strike Action Called For Monday
Mandatory Driver
Education Proposed For Lousy Drivers
GSM Network Interruptions Over the Weekend
Pricesmart
Throws Out Plastic Bags
Liberia Airport Gets
New Fire-Extinguishing Units
Decline in Tourism to
Costa Rica's "Gold Coast"
By John McPhaul
Once-bustling construction sites on Costa
Rica's Pacific coast are lying silent as a
real estate boom fueled by tourists and U.S.
expatriates slumps due to the global
financial crisis.
At a dozen building sites around the
picturesque Tamarindo resort town, where
workers once crawled up and down hulking
concrete structures, now only security
guards stand vigil in the midday tropical
sun.
The site is part of a series of beaches
known as Costa Rica's "Gold Coast," which
became one of Central America's hottest
property spots when a local airport began
handling international flights six years
ago.
Now the beach, normally crowded at this time
of year, Costa Rica's busiest tourist
season, is half empty as cash-strapped
travelers opt to stay at home.
Tourism is Costa Rica's No. 1 source of
foreign exchange earnings, so any dip can
have a major economic impact on the country,
also known for its eco-lodges in tropical
jungles.
"We didn't expect this to happen, no one saw
the crisis coming," said developer Guillermo
Cubas, whose six-unit Brisas del Monte
condominium stands idle.
Cubas' bank cut off his credit line last
year when Costa Rica's banking system
suffered a liquidity shortfall amid the
turmoil in global markets.
Guanacaste province, where Tamarindo is
located, is reporting a drop of nearly a
third in hotel occupancy rates for the first
two months of 2009 compared to 2008,
according to Pablo Solano, the head of the
national hotel chamber.
Hotel owners are warily eyeing the beginning
of the low season, which starts on May 1.
"The number of reservations is not
encouraging," said Yahira Alvarez, a sales
manager for the luxury Diria Hotel.
Century 21 representative Franck Viale said
real estate business is off 90 percent from
last year.
Construction is still visibly active on only
one building in Tamarindo, a seven-floor
commercial and residential project, with
luxury condominium units worth us$475,000 to
us$1.4 million.
The building's owner, New York developer
John Rosen, is financing the project with
his own money and hopes to tap the growing
numbers of U.S. baby-boomers set to retire.
But the days when buyers would snap up units
even before they are built are over. "No one
is buying until it's done," he Rosen said.
Some think a lull in the pace of
construction is a blessing in disguise.
Construction of new hotels and condos along
the Gold Coast outpaced the capacity of
Costa Rica's government to provide
infrastructure, causing health problems
related to the dumping of untreated sewage
into the ocean.
Environmentalists worry that the development
threatens the habitat of animals in the
region like macaws, monkeys and the
endangered leatherback turtle.
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