Pops wrote:
The tease that the airport will open August 1st is just a stall. No airlines are booking flights in August nor have they designated countries that they will allow tourists to enter from. From what they have announced the States will not be one of them. There is no relief in sight.
Unfortunately, these words are true. I believe the "stall" will soon become a nosedive. I think these dates have largely been an attempt to keep commercial bankruptcies at bay. I am not well informed about CR bankruptcy laws, but what I have read is focused on the employees, unions and public creditors (caja, taxes, utilities, etc) not the equity stakeholder. As the economy contracts, I expect to see 50 to 100% of the malls collapse (goodbye Multiplazas, TerraMall, CityPlaza, LincolnPlaza). The same with chain or franchise hotels (Sleep Inn, Holiday Inn, Radisson), restaurants (Chilis, PizzaHut, Carl'sJr), cinemas (Cinemark, Cineopolis) and department stores (Universal, Monge, Totto). Private banks will fail. This will be the trigger to union strikes. This will probably happen when aguinaldos (Christmas bonuses) can't be paid if not before. It will be kind of hard to get an IMF loan for that. The legislature will be unable to decide which sectors to bail out, or if they do, the courts will block them. Costa Rican government is not built for speed. The turmoil will continue long after the borders open to tourism.
Whitecat wrote:
On the other hand, there is more pu*sy available than any one man can handle. Had a nice 19 yo today who was happy to be working. We have to stay optimistic and see what the future brings.
These are the most important words in this thread and the light at the end of the tunnel for many of us. While my words should not be construed as promoting certain types of tourism (nod, nod, wink, wink, say no more). The future will be bright for the motivated ecotourist and angler.