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Tourism Businesses Receive Security Training
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
As part of national efforts to combat crime against tourists, 141 tourism businesses owners graduated Saturday from a training course offered by the Public Security Ministry entitled “Security and its Impact on Tourism Development,” according to ministry spokesman Fabián Mesa.
Officials from the ministry's Community and Commercial Security department traveled to popular tourist areas around the country to teach business owners how to prevent crimes against tourists and what to do when they occur, Mesa said.
“One of the most important tools they (business owners) learned is how to warn tourists, mainly foreigners, of what the main security problems are in this country and how to avoid them,” Mesa said, adding that participants also learned what steps to take if they or their clients become victims of crime.
Tourism companies including Costa Rica Temptations, Swiss Travel Service, Bike Arenal, Cielo Azul and Interbus were among those that participated in the program, which was carried out in conjunction with the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT).
Police director Oswaldo Alpízar said this training is one of the first steps the Public Security Ministry is taking to strengthen security for tourists to Costa Rica, according to a statement from the ministry.
“Establishing a relationship with tourism operators will allow us to work together with trained people to eradicate security problems,” Alpízar said.
Foreign Ministry Aiding
Costa Ricans in Lebanon
The Foreign Ministry is working through its consulates in Lebanon and Israel to offer assistance to approximately 300 Costa Ricans living in Lebanon after violence broke out between the Lebanese group Hezbollah and Israel last week, according to a statement from the ministry.
Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno told the Legislative Assembly's International Affairs Committee that honorary consulates in Beirut and Jerusalem are “on alert,” and processing requests from Costa Ricans residing in the area.
According to reports from the Costa Rican honorary consul in Beirut, only two Costa Ricans have requested assistance in leaving Lebanon : a woman identified by the last name Campos, who lives there with her children, and a young person identified by the last name Hernández. Both Ticos will soon be able to evacuate,” the statement said.
The Panamanian government has also offered to assist Costa Ricans in Lebanon through its Greek embassy, the statement said.
“Although we don't have many resources, we are trying to take care of the situation,” Stagno said. “Both consulates are under alert; they have their telephone lines open and are in constant communication with the Foreign Ministry and the Consulate to communicate with family members in Costa Rica,” Stagno said.
-Tico Times
Costa Rican Economy Likely to Grow 6.8% This Year
The Costa Rican economy is estimated to grow 6.8% in 2006, surpassing last year's 3.6% growth and the world average of 4.9% yearly growth, the Central Bank announced Friday.
Central Bank president Francisco De Paula Gutiérrez called the country's economic balance this year “very positive” and said that it shows “strong growth.”
De Paula Gutiérrez also estimated an economic growth of 4.7% in 2007, but said that this figure could change if fiscal reform policy and the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United Status (CAFTA) are approved.
The strongest forces pushing forward the economy this year are exports and direct foreign investment, mostly in the real estate sector.
Exports grew 18% during the first semester of this year compared to the same period last year, and $1 billion is expected in direct foreign investment, De Paula Gutiérrez said.
-ACAN-EFE
Fishing Authorities to Meet in Costa Rica
Fishing industry authorities from around Central America plan to meet in Costa Rica Wednesday and Thursday for the 6 th meeting of the Central American Fishing and Agriculture Organization (OSPESCA).
The meeting, which is scheduled to take place at a hotel on the central Pacific coast, will be attended by the region's agriculture vice-ministers, according to a statement from the Costa Rican Fisheries Institute (INCOPESCA).
Representatives plan to discuss regional fishing policies, shark and marine turtle protection, research toward responsible fishing and information gathering in Central America, the statement said.
Additionally, they will consider possible collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to carry out trainings on the sustainable management of sport fishing.
-ACAN-EFE
Save the Tico Humpbacks: A Whale of a Proposal
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The biggest being you are likely to see in Costa Rica is the humpback whale, and now is probably the best time of year to see one here. These massive creatures arrive from as far away as the Southern Ocean International Whale Sanctuary, the ring of ocean surrounding Antarctica. The whales are coming back home to court, mate, give birth to the next generation of Costa Rican whales, and generate a lot of money for Costa Ricans working in tourism.
They make the now famous Antarctic-to-Costa-Rica trek, one of the longest in the animal kingdom, because Costa Rica’s waters are a prime place to make a little whale big enough to survive in cold seas full of large predators. Around the end of the rainy season, they head back to the Southern Ocean, the best place in the world for these unique mammals to become full-sized whales.
Adult whales need to eat more than your car weighs every day to grow bigger than a bus, and they cannot find that much food in Costa Rica. The Southern Ocean is where whales feast on vast amounts of shrimp-like krill and other tiny creatures that congregate into cloud-sized swarms. But Costa Rican-born whales may be in big trouble when they head back south for food this year.
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Finshots: Photographs of fin prints can be used to identify whales born in Costa Rican waters. |
The same whales that thrill tourists and locals alike and support one of the fastest-growing segments of Costa Rican tourism may be hunted and killed by illegal Japanese whalers when they return to the Southern Ocean. According to the May 2006 issue of National Geographic Adventure magazine, when the whales arrive south, Japan plans to kill 50 or so humpbacks in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary for research and later sale of the meat. Fifty dead Tico whales would probably mean the end of Costa Rica’s whale watching, as probably only about 50 of these endangered species come to Costa Rica each rainy season.
So what can tiny Costa Rica do against a powerful First-World nation that is an expert at exploiting the resources of other countries? Probably not much, but perhaps we could take an important symbolic step. Using fin-print photos, why not declare the easily identifiable whales born in Costa Rican waters Ticos, and ask the countries of the world to respect these citizens and not kill them when they visit other places? The whales will generate far more money in the long run from whale watchers in Antarctica and Costa Rica than they will with a onetime sale of meat in a fish market.
Tourists of the world are already starting to boycott nations that support whaling. By declaring whales born here to be Ticos, Costa Rica would set a worldwide example of helping to protect these mysteriously intelligent mammals that have been hunted to near extinction in the past. We would also be poised to receive all the tourists who will stop going to offending destinations that normally compete with Costa Rica.
Too bad Nicaragua doesn’t see the writing on the wall. If it worked together with Costa Rica to develop dolphin and whale tourism, both countries could make untold money year after year. Sadly, at least one Japanese whale-factory ship is registered in Panama, and that might not bode well for our other neighbor’s marine tourism prospects. The three countries working together would be that much more influential, and could help establish the area as a mega marine tourism destination.
If you like the idea of Costa Rica’s whales not being killed when they visit feeding waters, or if you like to make money working with tourism, tell everyone you know to help save these whales by declaring them officially Ticos.
For more information, call 835-6041, e-mail shawn@costacetacea.com or visit www.costacetacea.com.
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