Breaking Bread: Ingrid Ríos (left), her son Adrián Morales, 18, (center) and Housing Minister Fernando Zumbado talked over dinner Tuesday night at the Ríos-Morales home in the Finca San Juan shantytown in western San José. Zumbado accepted the family's invitation to spend the night at their house, saying that he hoped the act would draw new attention to the difficulties of the estimated 40,000 families who live in substandard housing nationwide. See this Friday's print or pdf edition of The Tico Times for more on this story.

Today is International Day Without Tobacco, and in Costa Rica the focus is on preventing parents from smoking around their children.

Patricio Torres in Concert
Trova, 8 p.m., National Auditorium, inside National Children's Museum, end of Calle 4, Ave. 9, San José.

“¡Bang, Bang! Estás Muerto”
Play d irected by María Bonilla, through June 2, Thursday through Saturday, 8 p.m., Costa Rican-North American Cultural Center, Barrio Dent. Info: 207-7554.

Raquetball Exhibit Game
With U.S. tennis star John Ellis, 6:30 p.m., Costa Rica Country Club, Escazú; tomorrow, 6:30 p.m., San José Indoor Club, Curridabat.

By Peter Krupa
Tico Times Staff | pkrupa@ticotimes.net

Let the negotiations begin. EXPOTUR 2007 kicked off yesterday with the participation of 445 tourism-related companies at the Hotel Herradura conference center in Cariari, northwest of San José, as buyers gathered from all over the world to partake in Costa Rica's $1.7 billion tourism industry.

The event, hosted by the Costa Rican Association of Tourism Professionals (ACOPROT), has been taking place annually since 1984 and is the largest of its kind in the country.

The fair's growth has been slowed in recent years by the tight quarters at the convention center, and ACOPROT President Carlos Lizama said that the number of foreign buyers is down as a result.

However, according to an ACOPROT press release, 32% of the buyers at EXPOTUR this year represent “virgin” markets for Costa Rica, including Central European countries such as Poland and Latvia, as well as Nigeria, India, and the United Arab Emirates.

“You can see that the Costa Rican tourism product has improved year after year,” Lizama said.

The convention center was packed to the gills with slick booths featuring flat screen TVs and little cups of Café Britt-brand coffee. Some 150 international buyers wandered through the displays of Costa Rican companies.

Meanwhile, across the parking lot in the hotel lobby, an exposition of a different kind was taking place. ExpoVerde, held as a parallel to EXPOTUR, hosted 24 green suppliers seeking buyers for their tourism products. Hosted by the Corcovado Foundation, ExpoVerde has doubled in size since its first appearance last year.

Additionally, the Rainforest Alliance was drawing attention to sustainable tourism with a “Follow the Green Trial” card handed out to visitors. The card lists businesses that have earned a Certificate of Sustainable Tourism. Visitors who collected a stamp from each of these businesses proving they'd visited their stands to learn about sustainable practices could leave their completed cards with the Rainforest Alliance to enter a raffle. The winner will receive a “sustainable tour” for two people with food, lodging and transportation included.

By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@ticotimes.net

A lot of “double talk” is what Ilma Sandoval, a researcher at Universidad Nacional, said she found in her recent study of Costa Ricans' perceptions of Nicaraguans living here.

“Many people say they have good relationships with Nicaraguans and then someone makes a xenophobic joke, they just laugh along,” Sandoval said during a press conference yesterday to present the results of her study.

Conducted through the Institute of Population Studies (IDESPO) -- based at the university's campus in Heredia, north of San José -- the study interviewed 600 people around the country via telephone.

Some questions pertained to all immigrants in Costa Rica, while others focused on Nicaraguan immigrants.

About 64% of those interviewed said they have some type of contact or relationship with immigrants, while 67% of them classified this relationship as “good,” 29% said it was “regular” and 4% said it was “bad.”

In terms of Nicaraguan immigrants, 69% of Costa Ricans interviewed said Nicas experience “a lot” of discrimination, while 26% said they face “little” discrimination and 5% said there is “no” discrimination.

This contradicted answers to the question “Are the human rights of Nicaraguan immigrants respected in Costa Rica ?” Sandoval said. Sixty-five percent of those interviewed answered “yes” to this question, while 35% answered “no.”

“Many people believe human rights only concern the right to education and the right to health care when, in reality, they go a lot farther than these services,” she said.

The results of the study presented yesterday are part of three studies Sandoval is carrying out with support from the System for Statistics on Migrations in Meso-America (SIEMMENS).

Today is International Day Without Tobacco, and in Costa Rica the focus is on preventing parents from smoking around their children.

The Institute on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (IAFA) is seizing the occasion to call attention to statistics such as 7% of women in Costa Rica smoking during pregnancy and 60,830 children suffering the consequences such as low birth weight, susceptibility to infections, greater risk of dying within the first few weeks of birth and a greater likelihood of developing respiratory infections, such as asthma.

Additionally, children who grow up with at least one smoker in their homes could have a lower intellectual level, hyperactivity and an attention deficit. Children are also 50% more likely to become smokers when at least one of their parents smokes.

IAFA's focus today is on creating 100% smoke-free environments to prevent harm to children, the statement said.