Costa Rica has proven to be more than a fading buzz-word travel destination. Its appeal and local tourism and real estate industries have not only endured the financial crisis, they have grown and adapted to a new generation of discerning travelers and investors. In fact, the economic slow down has given these industries a bit of relief from the rapid growth they had been experiencing, allowing them room to breath and mature in a healthier climate. The result is that Costa Rica is reemerging more aligned to the ideals and image that it has always been known for: environmental conservation, sustainable development and a wide range of quality travel options that appeal all visitors.

Despite its idyllic reputation, the reality in this small Central American nation has, at times, been another. Greedy developers, short-sighted politicians and get-rich-quick schemers have long seen through the charm of the nation’s beaches to the money making opportunities. Maritime zone laws were infringed upon, sewage water dumped carelessly into the sea and the investment into local communities minimal. These realities were happily left out of the packaged Costa Rica product that the Costa Rica tourism Institute ICT continued to shove down the throats of foreign consumers.

However, former critics are slowly being proved wrong as the self-fulfilling prophetic seed of eco-awareness has been planted and is sprouting away in Costa Rica. The country has become a Mecca for nature lovers, bird watchers and Green living pioneers. Those that arrived to find the country less than clean are doing their part to correct this, and turn it into the nature lover’s utopia as seen in the advertisements.

The peace loving administration of Oscar Arias has taken it upon themselves to promote the same values in the youth of the country with tree-planting programs and the nation wide goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2021. Ex- hunters, slash-and-burn farmers and fishermen are finding salvation and money in the tourism industry, leaving behind their destructive ways to teach others about conserving the bio-diversity that their communities are blessed with. This education, offered by way of free English and Tourism classes, or within the country’s strong Tourism studies at its public universities, is bringing about a new generation of tourism employees and entrepreneurs that are set to up national wide tourism standards and service.

Even the real estate industry has been forced to take a step back due to the fortuitous events of the economic crisis. While multimillion dollar developments have been put on pause due to lack of financing, municipalities under public scrutiny are starting to better supervise existing developments and new construction, requiring sewage treatment plants to be installed and illegal beachfront properties taken down. With the slow down to demand, the industry has moved to a buyer’s market, with overpriced developments rightly humbled and discounts being offered by the handful. Over-speculation is being curbed as the buyers are starting to funnel back, while the market supply stays the same.

The Buzz is Back

Thanks to these factors, and the economical perk of being just a short 3 to 5 hour, $300 round trip flight from the United States, Costa Rica is back in the headlines and hearts of veteran travelers. Just this month, the country was featured in the New York Times, Forbes Magazine and Travel + Leisure, and is set to be the host of NBC’s newest reality show “I’m a Celebrity, Get me Out of Here” starting June 1.

This recent publicity comes much more deserved than advertorials of the past. For example, the Forbes article, titled “The World’s Cleanest Countries”, which was printed April 15, listed Costa Rica as the 5th cleanest country in the world thanks to efforts to protect its forests and rich bio-diversity as well as the focus on eco-tourism. While they may have forgotten to get water samples from the country’s polluted rivers, they did get it right that Costa Rica is a global leader in environmental rhetoric, which has already had positive results in the country.

The New York Times article, published April 16 and titled “There’s a Silver Lining in Costa Rica’s Gold Coast”, outlined the positive outcome of the crisis on the real estate market with the evolution of the buyer’s market. The article documented a positive outlook from local real estate agents and individual investors who expressed that the slow down to development has been an eye opener, and a reminder to protect the environment that remains.

The country has also been popping up all over celebrity gossip blogs after Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady’s April 5 wedding, which took place at her Santa Teresa beach home. And even more recently, Mel Gibson was photographed in an intimate embrace with a bikini clad bombshell, which allegedly led to his current divorce suit. With celebrity guests like Spencer and Heidi from MTV’s “The Hills”, American Idol finalest Sanjaya Malakar and ‘the world’s first supermodel’ Janice Dickinson rumored to be joining the NBC reality show cast, which will be filmed in the Costa Rican jungle, it is likely that the recent buzz won’t die down any time soon!

Hopefully Costa Rica will continue down the path it is on and the D-list celebrity cast will take second seat to the breathtaking landscapes and exotic wildlife that the country is known for. While the country still trails a step or two behind its utopic reputation, at least it is headed in the right direction with its new identity under constant reconstruction.

Costa Rica was listed as one of four countries on a blacklist of non-cooperative tax havens, published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Along with Malaysia, the Philippines and Uruguay, the Central American nation is accused of not agreeing to international tax standards and harboring tax evaders and their money.

The list will be used as a base for the Group of 20 leading industrialized and emerging nations (G20) initiative to crack down on tax havens, which are detrimental to their own financial systems. G20 leaders specifically discussed using sanctions to affect a change to the financial policies of the accused countries during the summit meeting on Thursday.

The OECD also published a “grey list” of 38 nations that have agreed to improve the transparency of their financial systems, but have not yet signed the international accords, validating the promise. This list includes countries such as notorious offshore money destinations such as the Cayman Islands, Monaco and Switzerland, as well as Panama, Guatemala, Singapore, Chile, Belgium, Luxembourg, Gibraltar and Austria.

In order to mitigate the effects of the economic crisis on Costa Rica, the Costa Rica Tax Administration authorized a special accelerated depreciation for all new assets (as in tangible property) increasing the acceleration of the useful life to 60% from the previous 50%. This measure applies to all new assets purchased from January 2009 until the end of the year. The move comes as part of President Arias’s new “Shield Plan” that hopes to protect the country from recession by implementing a series of temporary fixes to promote commerce and protect Costa Rica jobs.

Accelerated depreciation refers to any one of several methods by which a company, for ‘financial accounting’ and/or tax purposes, depreciates a fixed asset in such a way that the amount of depreciation taken each year is higher during the earlier years of an asset’s life. For tax purposes, accelerated depreciation provides a way of deferring corporate income taxes by reducing taxable income in current years, in exchange for increased taxable income in future years.

According to the Costa Rica Tax Administration, the accelerated depreciation is a smart move to confront the weakening economy by promoting investment because this measure allows companies a larger deduction when determining how much income tax is due. This should help soften the decision to acquire new assets when the world’s economists are telling people to save big purchases for later.

Once this resolution is published in “La Gaceta” it won’t be necessary for companies to specifically request authorization to use the special accelerated depreciation from the Tax Administration. The only requirement is that the owner prove that the assets were acquired during 2009. This can be proven with the accountant register or with legal documents.

For more information about Costa Rica tax laws, please contact ICS Tax: www.icstax.com

The worldwide economic crisis has grown a long arm, sparing very few countries from dropping consumer confidence and drastically slowed commerce. The Costa Rica tourism industry is one area that is feeling the pinch despite its hard fought battle to avoid these negative effects. According to the Costa Rica Tourism Institute (ICT), visitation is down 7%. Despite this, travelers are still coming to Costa Rica thanks to discount airfare and the country’s reputation for natural beauty and friendly service. The big difference? Travelers to Costa Rica today are efficient deal searching machines looking to save a few bucks here and there.

Costa Rica Pages, one of Costa Rica’s leading online providers of Costa Rica information and daily news, recently launched their new JungleBid website, which offers Costa Rica cheap hotel rates on an auction platform. The goal of the site is to assist hotels looking to increase occupancy and travelers looking for sub-advertised discount hotel rates. For example, the Luna llena Hotel in Tamarindo who advertise their rate at $109 per night posted an offer on JungleBid with rates starting at $70. Many deals are to be had at JungleBid.

Costa Rica hotels list their vacant rooms for specific dates on JungleBid with set minimum bids and ‘buy now prices’, so that the deal seeking consumer can find the best value for their dollar. Also, hotels have the option to install the ‘make me an offer’ system where you can suggest a rate to the hotel and see if they bite!

One hotel owner in Arenal recently said this could be his saving grace as he has seen a drop in online visitors to his website and is finding it difficult to sell hotel rooms at their regular rack rate. JungleBid gives hotel and rental owners a low priced option to get in direct contact with clients looking for a bargain.

“There are people looking for a Costa Rica cheap hotel and there are hotels looking to sell their rooms and increase occupancy at whatever cost, so JungleBid essentially draws both parties to one place to facilitate transactions,” the creator of JungleBid, Richard, said.

The website is currently allowing hotels to register and list their rooms for FREE all through March with the coupon code 7fccb8a45c82. As a prospective buyer you just sign up and can buy now or bid for a room at a significantly lower price than advertised. Payments can be made by Credit Card or Paypal directly with the hotels.

Sign up today for JungleBid!

The job market in Costa Rica has been quite dynamic recently. While layoffs continue, new job opportunities continue to emerge as companies look to capitalize on the country’s talented workforce. For any recent victims of downsizing or those looking for a more secure job, more help is on its way at the ExpoEmpleo that begins today at the Ramada Plaza Herradura hotel in San Jose.

The job fair kicked off at 10 a.m. this morning and will continue until 6 p.m., following this same schedule on Saturday and Sunday as well. About 50 companies including Cinta Azul, Skyes, Proctor & Gamble, SUR, KFC, Purdy Motors, TACA, EPA and Bank of America will be present looking to fill an estimated 2,500 positions. The event organizer, Empleo.net, suggested that job applicants take the opportunity to speak with company representatives and let them get to know more about what you can offer, rather than just running around dropping your resume off at every stand.

The organizer predicted that more than half of the job applicants attracted by the job fair will be below the age of 25 and a quarter between the ages of 25 and 29, many of them recent college graduates that joined the workforce at a very inopportune moment in the history of the world.

For applicants searching for jobs in Costa Rica online, beware that employment websites have noted an average 30% increase in visitors in the past three months and a 15% reduction in vacant positions, a clear result of the economic recession. Job sites both in English and Spanish have noticed the effects including Costa Rica Jobs, elempleo.com, empleos.net and tecoloco.com. Costa Rica Pages’ jobs abroad page alone saw an increase of nearly 50% in visitors, which began to jump in early January and has remained consistent ever since. Empleos.net noted a daily increase of 7,000 visits compared with last year, whereas the number of job offers decreased from 1,150 to 968 on average.
So what does one do when the economy is against you?

In the United States, where the layoffs are in the millions, there is the growing trend of turning an unfortunate job loss into an life changing opportunity. People are switching careers, going back to school and rethinking their lives in general. “Did I really need that third car?” “Is this all there is to life?” Attendance at bartender school is at an all-time high, suggesting that some have decided to drink away their woes. Others are taking advantage of low interest loan offers to start their own business.

The positive result of the crisis can be seen in these trends. People are stopping to reflect on their lives and careers and beginning to reconsider the path they were on. “Obligatory vacation,” a euphemistic look at unemployment, can really be seen as just that. Why not take that vacation to Costa Rica you’ve always been dreaming about? Or pursue your dreams of actually relocating to the country. The benefit of restarting your life abroad in a developing country is that there are always needs to be met. Your native fluency in English may be the key to a job teaching English (a TEFL certificate can be obtained online in less than three months for a round $300).

Did you attend college in the states? That makes you one of the 10% most educated people in the WORLD. Your skills may likely have a higher demand abroad, and your daily perspective on your job may be years ahead of what has been achieved to date in poorer nations like Nicaragua, Costa Rica or Panama.

So if you were even considering a job abroad, I dare you to make that vision a reality and take this economic “down time” to explore the world, new languages, new perspectives, new career paths and new beautiful countries and cultures. From the Peace Corps, to volunteering, backpacking, teaching or your own start up, the opportunities just keep expanding when you look beyond your current borders.

A group of representatives from 19 Spanish companies will visit Costa Rica this week to promote business between the two countries. The goal of the business mission, which will take place mainly next Thursday and Friday, is to contact new clients and search for local representatives and distributors for their products and services. The visit is being coordinated by the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Costa Rica.

The visit will represent business opportunities across many distinct sectors including book publishing, lamps and lighting, white line furniture, car parts and accessories, information systems, consulting and industrial welding. The business representatives will meet with those interested in negotiations via planned meetings.

Costa Rica exports about $50 million annually to Spain and imports about $140 million, according to Procomer, the Promoter of Exterior Commerce. Pineapples represent 34 percent of total exports to Spain, while the top imports include petroleum, ceramics, medicine and books.

Multinational Jobs

In addition to business opportunities with Spain, a bilingual job fair set for this Feb. 20 through Feb. 22 will offer 3,500 jobs in Costa Rica from many large multinational companies. The fair, organized by the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE) will be held at the National Cultural Center in the old National Liquor Factory.

A total of 27 companies will be on hand to accept resumes and arrange interviews with anyone interested, granted you speak Spanish and English. Companies include Citibank, Fujitsu, Western Union, Amazon.com and Sykes.

After last Saturday’s job fair at the Colegio Universitario Boston in San Jose saw 5,000 people show up to apply for 1,000 positions, it is recommended that those interested arrive early if you hope to get to the front of the line! This job fair invited 14 companies including McDonalds, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Credomatic and Empleos.net.

For more information about this weekend’s bilingual job fair, visit www.cinde.org.

If there was any doubt before, recently released information reporting 15,000 lost jobs in Costa Rica during the month of December 2008 seems to prove that the world economic crisis has indeed hit this Central American nation. The report was released by the Costa Rican Union of Private Business Chambers and Associations (Uccaep), while the Labor Ministry said that 5,000 Costa Ricans presented themselves in January of this year to ask about their severance pay. The ministry said an average of 250 recently unemployed Costa Ricans arrived daily.

Business closings and plummeting revenue due to lowered global spending power are the main culprits, and there is no end in sight as headlines around the world read of job loss and rising unemployment. To add to the increasing numbers, Sylvania will be closing its plant in Pavas, San Jose, leaving another 200 people unemployed.

Unfortunately, economists are predicting that the end to the crisis is not yet in sight and things are expected to get worse before they get better. One expert predicted that the crisis could last up to 18 more months. Last year’s unemployment level was set at 4.9, while it is expected that the unemployment rate for 2009 could rise to 6%.

In an attempt to combat further negative effects of the crisis, Uccaep said it will be presenting a bill to congress in the next couple of days called the “Law of Employment Protection in Moments of Crisis”.

The law would present temporary amendments to the Employment Code to allow business owners to take the necessary precautions to avoid firing their personnel. Such precautions would include reducing work hours by one third, and offering an advance on vacation time. Both of these would allow the company to slightly decrease individual salaries, and therefore employ more people at the same price. Companies would also be able to lower executive salaries.

One Uccaep representative said that if an employee does not agree to the changes, which would not exceed a period of six months, they will be fired and receive severance pay.

This bill is very similar to the government’s “Shield Plan” that would allow for more flexible work hours including a three day week working 12 hours a day, or changing daily work hours between 6 and 10 hours a day. So far they have succeeded in influencing banks to lower interest rates on loans to small and medium sized companies in the hope of keeping them in business so they can offer more jobs to the population.

Both bills will need approval by Congress before they are passed. Uccaep’s bill is currently being presented to the General Assembly, and so far has received support from the Citizen’s Action Party (PAC).

Currently, the Labor Ministry is working to strengthen their unemployment assistance program by offering financial aid to small companies and generating their own employment through public works programs. Needless to say, the current economic environment will have employees holding on to their jobs for dear life, lowering turn over rates and giving those who are employed one thing to be very thankful for.

Three telecommunications companies have solicited authorization from the Superintendent of Telecommunications (Sutel) to offer phone and internet services to the Costa Rican public. If approved, this will be the first time that the ex-monopoly Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE) will face competition in the telecom market now that the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) has officially passed.

Amnet, Ticom and WorldCom must wait for official approval from Sutel, which was just formed Jan. 27, before entering into the market to compete with ICE and their subsidiary, Racsa. Sutel did not expect to begin reviewing applications until February 13, but their speedy formation will allow them to begin with the review process.

The company Ticom, which plans to operate phone lines in the country, with a focus on voice over IP, already submitted their request to operate in the country on Jan. 21. Amnet, which already offers cable television in the country, also requested the right to offer telephone services on Jan. 28. Finally, WorldCom, which offers high speed wireless internet access in the country, hopes to increase their services to more diverse regions of Costa Rica to both homes and large corporations. The company already invested some $5 million to enlarge their network throughout the country.

The approval of these contracts s of interest to all involved, as Sutel recently rejected ICE’s plan to raise phone prices until competition exists in the market. Until it does, ICE is not allowed to raise prices over the amount set by the state regulating authority Aresep. Once these requests are approved only time will tell how prices and quality of service will be affected. Many CAFTA opponents made claims that the open market will cause phone prices to skyrocket, whereas proponents are mostly tired of ICE’s mediocre quality service. Hopefully change proves to be for the best in this case!

Recent headlines suggest rising unemployment.

Remember that pizza guy who zoomed through the pouring rain at 10 p.m. last month to deliver you a fresh steaming hot pizza? He is currently unemployed, along with 129 other Domino’s Pizza employees in Costa Rica. I bet you wished you tipped better now. The job losses don’t end there, and while the government is calling for solidarity and support from the people and private businesses, they are also working on short term law reforms to offer a hand to those in need.

Domino’s Pizza closed nine locales throughout the metropolitan area this week due to the negative financial situation in the region. The finance manager explained that the company registered losses of $2 million, which led to the closings.

These employees were hit by surprise, like many other Costa Rican workers that have been laid off in recent months. The Costa Rican social security administration estimated that 6,000 jobs were lost between July and November of last year. But the firings didn’t stop there nor are they designated to any one industry. Metalco, a steel products producer, just fired 100 people from its Tibas factory. The company also dropped prices 25% for its construction products as the demand just isn’t there. Universidad Latina made cuts in the administrative department firing 20 people.

Tourism saw 22,000 fewer tourists during the second half of 2008 in comparison with the same period in 2007, leading to layoffs in the industry. One industry employee estimated that 30% of tourism workers were fired in La Fortuna in the last quarter of 2008, while other regions are slimming down their work force and reevaluating efficiency levels.

On a more positive note, HP expects to hire 1,000 more people this year bringing its total to 8,000 jobs in Costa Rica. In general, it is expected that 2,500 more jobs will be offered by transnational companies in the service industry during 2009.

As for Intel, which just closed three assembly plants in China laying off hundreds of workers, they will not close the Costa Rican plant that employees 3,200 people. The Corporate Affairs Manager said that the office in Costa Rica, which has been here for 10 years, is a vanguard for the company thanks to the advances in technology that are made here. Since 2006 Intel has laid off 16,000 workers saving $8 billion. Last year the company’s sales dropped 23% from 2007, and they exported $391 million less from Costa Rica.

How to Fix the Problem

President Oscar Arias has noted the problems faced by the Costa Rican people and went about preparing an economic crisis rescue plan called the Shield Law. While not yet passed, Arias announced the formation of the bill last week and what it entails.

Under this same call to solidarity, Arias made specific requests to state banks to lower interest rates and create flexible payment plans for those in need of money. For example, the Banco Popular has a new policy in which it will freeze debts temporarily should a person lose their principal method of income. He also said the government will be investing nearly 3% of the national budget into public works projects, thus offering new forms of employment.

Also on the job front is Arias’s plan to reduce work hours so that more people can be hired. He also suggested that night shifts not be charged as overtime so that more night jobs will open up. Another new concept for the country is the move to telecommuting. As announced last year, the hope is that companies can save money and thus hire more employees if they don’t have to pay regular office expenses like computers, supplies, etc.

All of the issues discussed in the Shield Law would only be enacted for the period of time that the government determines that the country is in a crisis state. Once things get better, most of the policies, especially those unpopular among workers, would go back to how they were before.

While the global economy and lack of available financing have caused a lull in construction in Jaco, including the termination of works already in progress, activists are also winning the fight to stop growth around an important marine park in Tamarindo. This latest effort recently lead to a Supreme Court decision to stop urban development bordering on the Las Baulas Marine Park indefinitely.

The area specifically in question is a 500 meter strip of land that serves as a buffer zone around the Las Baulas Marine Park in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste. A portion of Tamarindo and surrounding towns like Playa Grande are situated within the zone that is populated with homes, hotels and businesses. Those buildings affected cannot be renovated or enlarged for the next few months until a final solution is found.

The case was brought to court by a local resident with the argument that these homes and businesses affect the water quality in the park through runoff and lack of garbage collection, which could pose a threat to the endangered Leatherback turtle populations in the area.

The court’s ruling also prohibits the authorization of new construction permits and environmental viability studies until a full study on the impact to the conservation area is completed by the National Environmental Technical Secretary (SETENA), the Water and Sewer Institute (AyA) and local municipalities. These government entities have been granted six months to complete the necessary tests that will study the impact of the lights, noise, sewage and human presence on the turtle population.

One possible outcome from the testing could be that current constructions in the area will have to be destroyed. However, the court noted that that would be the most extreme outcome. A representative from the municipal council of Santa Cruz said that the building permit restriction will be devastating to the municipality’s income; leaving one to question where his priorities are and have been for this municipality that has seen some of the most dynamic growth in the country over the past few years.

Another region where local development is in danger is Playa Jaco, on the Central Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Here, the victim is the construction industry itself, which was described as nearly paralyzed by the Vice President of the Central Pacific Chamber of Commerce.

People are beginning to call the beach town the “Grey City” as concrete structures remain half completed with no signs of progress. The culprit here is the international economic crisis, which has left developers without financing, forcing them to suspend their building projects until further notice. In situations where the money is not an issue, the return on investment must be reanalyzed if the buyers themselves cannot get their hands on credit for a second home or condo.

The situation has not just left a concrete jungle that is less than pleasing on the eyes, it has also left many construction workers without a job in Costa Rica.