Press Release
www.visitcostarica.com
Tourism growth demands the construction of 10 thousand new residencies by year 2012 COSTA RICA PREPARES FOR THE SECOND CONVENTION FOCUSING ON TOURISM INVESTMENT, November 28, 2006
• CINDE, ICT, KPMG and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs unite their strengths in order to promote tourism
• Registered tourism investment grows 152 percent
• Hotel chains confirmed
For the second consecutive year, financial entities, land owners, developers, real estate agents and renowned hotel chains will meet in San José to participate in the Second Convention of Tourism Investment, to be held on February 20th and 21st, 2007 at the Hotel Real Intercontinental.
CINDE, the promotion Agency for foreign investment, the Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the consulting agency KPMG will be in charge of the organization of the event. The first Convention held in February 2006 attracted more than 300 people and prestigious hotel chains like Hyatt, Cendant, Hilton and Starwood, to mention a few.
Edna Camacho, who is the General Director of CINDE, stated that the purpose of this Conference is to promote Costa Rica’s tourism potential, and analyze the challenges of this sector, as well as world trends regarding tourism and the type of investment to attract, according to the National Development Plan of Sustainable Tourism created by the ICT.
“The contacts made are intended to help guide potential investors in handling legal issues and provide advice regarding business opportunities. We are planning to share useful information, based on successful past experiences, on subjects related to marketing, brand recognition and project financing,” commented Camacho.
The Chamber of Hotels (CCH), the National Chamber of Tourism (CANATUR), the Costa Rican Association of Professionals in Tourism (Acoprot) and the Chamber of Tourism of Guanacaste (Caturgua) will participate in this second event.
According to the General Manager of the Costa Rica Tourism Board, Allan Flores, the expansion of the industry has lead to a growth of 152% in the tourism investment calculated in September 2006 and in comparison to 2004, $123 million dollars (¢ 63,752 million approximately). This number does not include the real estate developments in this sector that have been built in the last years.
“This increase in growth helps us to achieve our goal, which is to exceed the $143 million dollars invested in tourism in 2005 before this year ends.
Factors that make this goal attainable are the increase in the amount of available residences, which in June last year was 40,000, the great atmosphere in which business can be done, and affirmative actions to revert the infrastructure deficit, to mention a few,” said Flores.
Recently, Costa Rica was rated as one of the top 10 countries in the world with the best potential for tourism growth. It was promoted as a unique country and the world’s second most exotic destination. Other recognitions include the country as an ideal place to spend honeymoons and adventure trips.
According to Associate Director of KPMG in Costa Rica, Alfonso Amén, the participation of KPMG in this event represents a symbol of trust among the investors because of the international recognition.
“KPMG has been a strategic partner for many foreign investors that have come to Costa Rica to join the tourism sector, and this second conference will contribute to strengthen commercial links that will lead to solidify the development of new projects,” expressed Alfonso Amén.
In countries like Spain, the participation of KPMG to attract tourism investments has lead to the establishment of new business relationships involving approximately 50% of the hotel industry in Spain and 90% of the hotel chains from Spain that do business abroad. In the United States, KPMG obtained the leadership in financial services.
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