Present situation at Costa Rica Caribbean port

[CR dude]

http://insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2011/december/12/costarica11121203.htm

 

Moín Docks No Man's Land With Cruise Ship Tourism

 

The docks at the port of Moín, in the province of Limón, is no man's land when the cruise ships arrive loaded with tourists. Although there are permits and regulations in place that rule who and who cannot offer their services and tours, there is little in the way of monitoring and enforcement.

 

The clashes between rival operators has even reached points where the groups come to physical assault as documented in video and photographs by the operators themselves

 

The clashes concentrate mainly on which group or operator to transport tourists to different locations in the area and the province, as well as offer tours to the different attractions

 

The monitoring and enforcement of the rules falls on the Junta de Administración Portuaria y de Desarrollo Económico de la Vertiente Atlántica (Japdeva), who is being sued by various groups demanding the elimination of the permits given to rival operators.

 

The situation intensifies with tourism operators who have met the requirements and have the accreditation by the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT) - Costa Rican Tourism Institute - and who are barred from offering their services, despite their investments, some even falling into financial difficulties as a result.

 

This group is demanding that the Japdeva enforce the regulations and compliance.

 

The current situation can be blamed on the Pacheco administration (2002-2006) when, in order to assist development of the Caribbean region, it was decided to grant several companies dedicated to tourism some permissions to set up small kiosks to offer their tours.

 

To this end the adventure tourism companies, hotels and other institutions benefiting must submit to the specifications and quality standards required by the ICT.

 

For example, companies have to use cables canopy certificates, each of which must support a maximum weight amount specified in regulations. Hotels must meet certain standards, like restaurants, all to offer the tourist the best experience.

 

The regulations governing these activities ate the dock of Moín was dictated by the Board of Japdeva on September 8, 2005.

 

However, the regulations never came to be allied evenly, generating a series of disadvantages, permitting some operators not to follow the rules and permitting the emergence of free agents to benefit from the tourism trade that supposedly was only for licensees who met with all the protocols.