Tourism Head Asks For
More Government Action
For the Industry
The president of the
Cámara Nacional de
Turismo (Canatur),
Gonzalo Vargas, is
asking the government
for a clear indication
of the situation with
Alterra, the company
that manages the
country's main
international airport,
the Aeropuerto
Internacional Juan
Santamaría, in San José.
The government and
Alterra have been at
logger heads with the
completion of the
construction of the
airport terminal and
management, with no
resolution in sight.
Vargas is asking the
question following the
statements made by
president Oscar Arias on
his government's
achievements and
challenges during his
first two years in
office during Thursday's
speech to the
Legislative Assembly.
The Canatur president
says that the tourism
industry continues
concerned on the subject
of road infrastructure
and signage along the
routes.
According to Vargas, the
condition of some of the
roads around the country
greatly affect tourism.
The Canatur head said
that there are towns
that are an attractive
tourism location but not
easily accessible due to
the poor conditions of
the roads.
One of the many tourist
destination that have
poor roads are
Monteverde, where 20 of
the the 35 kilometre
road from the
Interamericana Norte to
Monteverde is rock and
gravel.
Vargas also criticized
the government for not
providing a solution to
the education of tourism
professionals to meet
the growing demands of
the tourism sector. The
tourism officials said
that the Instituto
Nacional de Aprendizaje
(INA) should have more
responsibility in
preparing training
tourism professionals.
Vargas also expressed
concerned on the current
situation of insecurity
and is asking the
government to give law
enforcement officials
the tools necessary to
do their job and to
reduce the numbers of
thefts, which is growing
daily.
The Canatur head said
the government's
creation of the Policía
Turística (tourist
police) has had good
results, however, not
enough.
"We have to work
together to eliminate
the image that we are
country with spectacular
beauty, but with
spectacular thieves",
said Vargas.
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