[dailyarchive/2004_12/exchange_rates.htm]
Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, December 16, 2004
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| DENOUNCING violence: Women at a march last month promote a bill that would punish physical and psychological violence toward women with harsher prison sentences. The Legislative Assembly passed the controversial bill Tuesday in first debate. Objections by the Libertarian Movement Party will send the bill to the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court for review before it can be voted on again and become law. One woman's sign reads, “Fascist Libertarians, how many more of us must die?” Read Friday's Tico Times print edition or on-line PDF version for the complete story. |
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2005 a Year For Quality, Not
Quantity, in Tourism Sector
Tourism Minister Rodrigo Castro said yesterday that Costa Rica cannot sustain another year of the kind of tourism-sector growth it experienced in 2003 and 2004, and that while growth projections for 2005 are still substantial, the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) plans to focus on the improvement and consolidation of existing services.
(Click for more)
British Businessman
Stabbed to Death
A man identified by authorities as British businessman Thomas Purvis, 45, was found dead Monday morning in his rented house in Sabana Sur, a neighborhood in western San José . He was lying on the floor of his bedroom, stabbed seven times, according to the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ).
(Click for more)
Man with Bin Laden Mask
Shot by Taxi Drive
A man wearing an Osama Bin Laden mask was shot twice on Monday evening in a semi-rural area of the Central Valley , as he was trying to scare drivers along a highway.
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December 16
Concert by Peregrino Gris
Performance by Celtic-style musical group, 7 p.m., National Library, Av. 3, Ca. 15/17.
Louis Ramey Live Comedy Show
Show begins at 8 p.m. at Teatro La Comedia, Av. Ctrl., Cuesta de Moras, next to Más x Menos. Info: 233-2170.
Concert and Exhibit
Wendy Delgado and Gustavo Hernández will perform at 8 p.m. tomorrow and 5 p.m. Sunday at Teatro Mozart. After the recital, guests can see a painting exhibit. Info: 829-3976, 227-4253.
Edited By Rebecca Kimitch
Tico Times Staff
rkimitch@ticotimes.net
2005 a Year For Quality, Not
Quantity, in Tourism Sector
By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff
kstanley@ticotimes.net
Tourism Minister Rodrigo Castro said yesterday that Costa Rica cannot sustain another year of the kind of tourism-sector growth it experienced in 2003 and 2004, and that while growth projections for 2005 are still substantial, the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) plans to focus on the improvement and consolidation of existing services.
“The tourism development of this country cannot continue to be spontaneous and disorganized,” Castro said.
He projected 10% growth for the sector in 2005, down from 16% growth that occurred 2004 (a figure that may change slightly when the numbers from the rest of December are known) and 11.3% growth in 2003.
“This will give us time to improve the infrastructure,” he said, referring to an area he highlighted as one of the greatest problems facing Costa Rica 's tourism sector.
On exit surveys, highways and roads received low marks from tourists here, he said. Telecommunications is another area that needs improvement. Safety, beaches and national parks received extremely high marks.
Another problem area is a shortage of hotel rooms. According to Castro, the number of new hotel rooms built has consistently fallen short of projections in recent years, and with ever-increasing numbers of visitors, “we need increased investment, or it is possible the demand will exceed supply.”
He said one of the ICT's major goals in 2005 will be the attraction of such investment. High occupancy rates (60% on average nationwide, and much higher in areas of heavy tourism activity) should help convince national and international businesses that Costa Rica is a sound investment, he added.
Other measures to create better-planned, more sustainable growth in 2005 include the ongoing 10-year (2002-2012) National Development Plan (TT Daily Page, Dec. 8), a Certified Sustainable Tourism initiative offering training to 50 hotels, and support for rural community tourism initiatives with support from the United Nations Development Program, Castro said.
He dismissed the idea that competition from growing tourism industries in other Central American countries may chip away at the advantage Costa Rica has traditionally maintained over its neighbors.
“The more we strengthen the region, the more it benefits us,” he said. “We have a 20-year lead, and if we work hard, that will be very difficult to lose.”
British Businessman
Stabbed to Death
By Kim Beecheno
editorial@ticotimes.net
A man identified by authorities as British businessman Thomas Purvis, 45, was found dead Monday morning in his rented house in Sabana Sur, a neighborhood in western San José . He was lying on the floor of his bedroom, stabbed seven times, according to the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ).
Friends, concerned because he had not turned up for a business meeting, began telephoning him but received no answer. Two men and a woman, who were not identified, went to his house and demanded the landlord open up the building Purvis had been renting for the past nine months.
Purvis worked selling electronic chips that contain a geographical positioning system. The chips are inserted into clients' bodies so they can be located in case of a kidnapping.
A security guard in the area said the last time he saw Purvis alive was around 9 a.m. Saturday morning, when the British man returned to his house in his Isuzu car. He said he did not see anyone else enter with Purvis.
Police say robbery may have been the motive behind the killing. OIJ agents believe Purvis had a large amount of cash with him at the time of the murder.
According to the daily newspaper Al Día, authorities suspect a young man Purvis knew was involved in the crime, which would explain why there was no sign of forced entry.
However, an OIJ spokeswoman told The Tico Times that investigators would not reveal any further details to the press, because doing so might hinder the investigation.
British Consul Vicky Baxter also visited the crime scene.
Man with Bin Laden Mask
Shot by Taxi Driver
A man wearing an Osama Bin Laden mask was shot twice on Monday evening in a semi-rural area of the Central Valley , as he was trying to scare drivers along a highway.
The man – holding a BB gun and a mask of the Al-Qaeda leader – was hit twice in the stomach as he approached a taxi driver in his car.
The fake Bin Laden, a 50-year-old repairman, was immediately taken to a hospital in the area.
--AFP
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