Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, May 25, 2004
 HERE’S the pitch: Salesman Alfonso Acosta listens to representatives from Hotel Borenquen Mountain Lodge near Rincón de la Vieja Volcano, in the northwestern province of Guanacaste, at Expotur 2000. The annual tourism convention, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, begins tonight. Tico Times/Julio Laínez |
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More Flooding, Evacuations
Usher in Rainy Season this Year
A sunny day was a thing of children’s stories and distant memories this past week, when rainstorms did not appear to let up.
(Click for more)
Farmers Prepare to
Conquer Caribbean Market
The Foreign Trade Ministry (COMEX), the Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER) and the National Horticulture Corporation have agreed to work together to create opportunities for Costa Rican agricultural producers looking to export to Caribbean islands, according President Abel Pacheco’s Economic Council.
(Click for more)
Dutch Woman Arrested with
Cocaine in Shampoo Bottles
Agents of the Drug Control Police (PCD) last week detained a Dutch woman at Juan Santamaría International Airport with just over a kilogram of cocaine distributed among seven shampoo bottles in her luggage, the Public Security Ministry announced.
(Click for more)
President Kicks Off 20th Expotur
President Abel Pacheco will inaugurate one of the year’s most important events for the country’s tourism industry, Expotur, this evening.
(Click for more)
May 25
Cuban Dance Show
Tonight at 7 p.m., Casa de la Ciudad, Cartago. Info: 573-7858.
Tuesday Night Concerts
Tonight’s show is “Renaissance Music,” a Cello recital, 7 p.m., room 107, School of Music, University of Costa Rica in San Pedro. Info: 207-4271.
More Flooding, Evacuations
Usher in Rainy Season this Year
By Robert Goodier
rgoodier@ticotimes.net
A sunny day was a thing of children’s stories and distant memories this past week, when rainstorms did not appear to let up.
Strong rains in the Central Valley, Southern Zone and other points throughout the country, last week and especially last weekend, flooded river banks, provoked landslides, damaged bridges and displaced over 80 people.
The National Emergency Commission (CNE) reported yesterday that 72 homes were affected, 15 of which are susceptible to landslides, and 85 people were evacuated from their houses and moved to a temporary shelter in the Southern Zone and the houses of family members in the Central Valley.
Irina Katchan, of the National Meteorological Institute, said the power of the storms has dissipated and the usual sunny mornings and afternoon showers of a run-of-the-mill rainy season commenced yesterday. She warned, however, that in some areas the skies could be cooking up some lightning storms and heavy showers in the coming week.
She explained that a low-pressure system that originated near the coast on Wednesday of last week was to blame for the almost constant downpours through the weekend.
Still with a week to go until the end of the month, San José has received 313 millimeters of rainfall in May, compared to an average May rainfall of 222 mm.
The Central Valley city of Alajuela is chugging along at about the average level of precipitation, with 241 mm so far this month, the average being 271 mm.
The Caribbean port town of Limón has been awash under 898 millimeters, more than three times its monthly average of 324 mm.
The normally dry Pacific port town of Puntarenas was sprinkled with 240 millimeters, more than its average of 204 mm, and Liberia is escaping so far with an about-average rainfall of 175 mm, slightly less than its 198 mm average for the month.
Farmers Prepare to
Conquer Caribbean Market
The Foreign Trade Ministry (COMEX), the Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER) and the National Horticulture Corporation have agreed to work together to create opportunities for Costa Rican agricultural producers looking to export to Caribbean islands, according President Abel Pacheco’s Economic Council.
Yesterday morning in the north-central mountain town of Zarcero, President Abel Pacheco, Foreign Trade Minister Alberto Trejos, head of PROCOMER Manfred Kissling and Edwin Masís, president of the Horticulture Corporation, signed a cooperation agreement aimed at improving access for Costa Rican agricultural exports to the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
PROCOMER will provide the Horticulture Corporation with commercial contacts in each market. This information will be used to draft specific marketing plans for each product and market.
The Horticulture Corporation will develop a program to help producers improve the quality of their products and ensure they meet plant health standards. They will also carry out a diagnostic for each product for availability, potential markets and existing demand. COMEX will help identify market-access opportunities.
“The strategy of insertion into international markets that we’re pushing is not a goal in itself,” Pacheco said. “It has the clear objective of increasing our participation in the world’s largest markets, improving our position in these markets and generating foreign currency, jobs, investment and enough exports to sustain economic growth in a way that helps combat poverty.”
Dutch Woman Arrested with
Cocaine in Shampoo Bottles
Agents of the Drug Control Police (PCD) last week detained a Dutch woman at Juan Santamaría International Airport with just over a kilogram of cocaine distributed among seven shampoo bottles in her luggage, the Public Security Ministry announced.
Police said the 44-year-old woman, identified as having a last name of Hyacintoa, displayed nervous behavior during a normal inspection of her luggage, which prompted PCD agents to further search its contents.
The drugs were found in plastic bags inside the bottles.
The woman was arrested and remitted to the control of the district attorney’s office of Alajuela, police said, where she will likely face charges of international drug trafficking.
President Kicks Off 20th Expotur
President Abel Pacheco will inaugurate one of the year’s most important events for the country’s tourism industry, Expotur, this evening.
The inauguration of the tourism convention will also honor four Costa Ricans who have made valuable impacts on the growth of Costa Rican tourism.
Expotur, which continues through Thursday, features hundreds of Costa Rican hotels, tour operators and airlines pitching their wares to tourism-related businesses from 14 different countries.
Tonight’s event at the Teatro Nacional will honor Roberto Kriete, president of the board of directors for airline TACA, hotel pioneer Luis Medaglia and tourism pioneer Carlos Lizama. Former Costa Rican president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias also will be honored.
This year at Expotur, 270 businesses will offer their services to travel agencies and tourism businesses from the United States, Poland, Belgium, England, Chile, Puerto Rico, Argentina and Guatemala, among other countries. More than 8,000 business-negotiating meetings will be held between these companies, according to the Costa Rican Association of Tourism Professionals, which is hosting the trade show.
Products that generate the most interest about foreign tourism providers are related to eco-tourism, adventure tourism, beaches and mountains.
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Wednesday October 26, 2005