TripAdvisor®, the travel planning and booking site, today announced the winners of its Travelers' Choice® for Hotels awards. Travelers' Choice award winners were determined based on the millions of reviews and opinions collected in a single year from TripAdvisor travelers worldwide. In the 15th year of the awards, TripAdvisor has highlighted the world's top 7,612 properties in 109 countries and ei...

G6 Hospitality, known for its iconic economy lodging brands, Motel 6 and Studio 6 in the U.S. and Canada, today announced that it is extending its footprint to Central America. The hospitality group signed a new area development agreement with InterAmerican Development Group, Inc. (IADG), to bring its newly designed brands, Hotel 6 and Estudio 6, to Belize, Costa Rica, Panama and more. InterA...

The first date of the “Kölbi” National Surf Tournament which took place in Dominical Beach this weekend gathered almost 170 competitors, one of the highest numbers in participation for this tournament. Some of the most popular faces of Costa Rican surf were unable to attend due to their participation in different international events. For this first date it was Jason Torres former national c...

Passport Index presented its Global Passport Power Rank 2017 which basically ranks passports of the world according to their total visa-free score. The study included 199 countries. The country with the best passport in the world is Germany, holders of a German passport can visit 158 countries without the need of a Visa or getting the Visa upon arrival. Sweden and Singapore tied in second ...

Earth Alive Clean Technologies Inc., a leading Canadian Clean-Tech company, and the developer and manufacturer of state-of-the-art microbial technology-based products for sustainable agriculture and mining, is pleased to announce that its microbial biofertilizer, Soil Activator™, has obtained final government registration approval in Costa Rica. This is the tenth such approval in Latin America for...

Ismael Cala Foundation (ICF) and Urbe University announced in Miami the grant of two scholarships to two young Latin Americans to study Social Communication in the United States. The spots will be channeled through four organizations that work in five countries: Mentores Solidarios (Nicaragua), Fundación Carvajal (Colombia), Glasswing Internacional (El Salvador and Honduras) and Passion (Guatem...

The most recent book by publishing house Ojalá Ediciones, titled Greatest Wildlife Spectacles, documents 29 wildlife shows of migration, mating, nesting and gathering of animals in the Guanacaste area. (Watch the video at the end of the article too) The book is written in Spanish and English, it gives information and shows images of the agglomeration of ducks in Palo Verde National Park, the hu...

Starbucks Coffee Company will present this January 26th the new Hacienda Alsacia coffee, harvested in their property in Costa Rica. Carlos Mario Rodríguez, director of the Product Support Center and Mónica Bianchini country manager for Starbucks Coffee will be part of the presentation of this coffee, grown in the property the company acquired in 2013 near the Poás Volcano in Alajuela with the p...

The Costa Rican Electricity Institute is installing artificial reefs in the province of Guanacaste as part of a project that began in 2016 with the purpose of contributing with the protection of marine ecosystems. With the help of a team of scuba divers, 52 artificial reefs were installed in Hermosa Beach for the benefit of marine life. During the next six months, the ICE with the assistance ...

The songstress Madonna made a surprise appearance in the massive Women's March in Washington that included many artists that refused to attend Donald Trump's inauguration as president of the United States this Friday. Madonna, provocative and combative, said she had "thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House" after Trump won the Nov. 8 election, but instead she chose a "revolution o...

“Presos” or Imprisoned has become the first Costa Rican film to be part of the digital platform Netflix. The movie, directed by Esteban Ramirez, and starring Natalia Arias and Leynar Gómez, was filmed entirely in Costa Rica and released in 2015. It tells the story of a young girl that due to her job begins a friendship with a prison inmate. Imprisoned is offered by Netflix as of January 19 f...

Walmart has confirmed the construction of new Walmart store, this time locate in the city of Liberia in the province of Guanacaste, Costa Rica, nearby the EL Sitio Hotel, an area of high transit. With this new location, the first one constructed outside the metropolitan area, the company will have a total of 10 establishments of this brand in the country. Julio Viales, mayor of Liberia, con...

Hard Rock International makes waves today as it announces plans to bring the Hard Rock Hotels experience to Costa Rica with the all-inclusive Hard Rock Hotel Papagayo, Costa Rica. Hard Rock, in collaboration with Sunwing Travel Group, is set to open Costa Rica's first Hard Rock Hotel by early 2019. The brand's strategic partnership with Sunwing Travel Group, the largest tour operator in North Ame...

Costa Rica has many beautiful beaches that attract local and foreign tourists alike; they are without a doubt one of the many treasures this country has, however, some of these beaches suffer from a certain level of pollution, like it happens in every country, naturally some of the most polluted beaches tend to be some of the most visited ones. Costa Rica makes big efforts in implementing diffe...

Costa Rica and Nicaragua met in Panama's Rommel Fernandez' stadium in a match part of the Central American Soccer Cup (UNCAF). This game promised excitement due to the historical rivalry that the two countries have and the fact that the Nicaraguans are directed by a Costa Rican; yet, the match didn't live up to the expectations, the teams delivered a boring show, and "La Sele" left a lot of frustr...

Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. and Univision Holdings, Inc. announced a strengthened and expanded relationship between the two companies by unifying both of their content development and production efforts. Both companies will benefit from a single, integrated focus on the Hispanic audience in the United States and the domestic Mexican audience, as well as from potential cost synergies from aligned con...

Costa Rica and Nicaragua’s rivalry will be revived today in the soccer field, as “La Sele” measures up against their northern neighbor in a match part of the Central American Soccer Cup (UNCAF) and where both teams expect to qualify to the Gold Cup. Nicaragua’s head coach, Henry Duarte, is actually Costa Rican, he has directed the Central American team since 2014 with good results. Under his di...

Professor Donald Rodriguez from the California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI), is leading a team of 20 students in a ten-day trip in Costa Rica with the objective of mapping the locations of crocodiles with the help of a drone. Crocodiles in the Pacific of Costa Rica have become numerous, sometimes presenting a threat to humans, and this trip is precisely part of a larger project that...

Part of President Barack Obama's motivation in ending a practice that gave undocumented Cuban migrants who reached US soil the right to remain appears to have been a desire to discourage Donald Trump from reversing the process of normalization with Cuba. Trump, who takes office Jan. 20, "will notice that the steps we've taken (with Cuba) make sense, they are serving our interests," Obama advise...

The collection of taxes on tobacco does not even cover a 30% of the yearly cost social security has in providing healthcare to those suffering from diseases resulting from cigarette consumption, revealed an investigated coordinated by the Clinical and Sanitary Effectivity Institute of Argentina and the Costa Rica Ministry of Health with the participation of the Costa Rican Social Security Authorit...

The more than 70 Cubans at an inn operated by the Catholic charitable mission Caritas asked Friday for the United States to make an exception for those who had left the island and were already crossing Central America before the "wet foot/dry foot" immigration policy was revoked. "We only ask that they make an exception for those of us who were already on our way, that they let us continue and ...

Nine companies and institutions received the recognition Costa Rica Incluye (Costa Rica Inclusive), for their good practices of social and labor inclusion of people with disabilities. The recognition is promoted by the Business for Development Association, the second Vice-President of the Republic, the Work Ministry and the National Council of People with Disabilities (CONAPDIS), in alliance wit...

Corporate Stay, leader in corporate and furnished apartments, is expanding its popular Signature Collection to Costa Rica and becomes the first and only corporate accommodations available in the country. The company built the entire building from the ground up with the needs of their corporate and vacationing guests in mind. Following the Signature Collection quality standard, these world-class...

As Juan walked to school one morning a year ago in El Salvador, two men on a motorbike sped by and fatally shot a boy on the street in front of him. The shooter took a good look at Juan's face. As a witness to a gang murder, Juan was now in the firing line. "They said I had to be part of their gang," said Juan, 15, who declined to give his real name for security reasons. Juan's mother, Te...

Costa Ricans rank in the fourth position when it comes to English proficiency in Latin America with a score of 51.35 according to Education First. This index ranks the level of English in different scales from “Very High”, “High”, “Average”, “Low and “Very Low” and provides information with regards to the direct relation between English proficiency and a variety of economic and social indicator...

Millennials have a different outlook on life, enjoying every day to the fullest is one of their goals, and doing new things and having different experiences are certainly part of the lifestyle of this generation. If new and amazing experiences is what you are looking for, here’s a few options you might find fun and that are certainly a unique way to explore the wonders Costa Rica offers… but, ...

The eleventh edition of the X-Knights, one of three most important events in its category, is coming to Costa Rica on March 18. The freestyle motorcycle competition is one of the most expected sporting events every year in Costa Rica, since it gathers some of the most renown exponents of this discipline worldwide. This time around it will have the participation of the X-Knights two-time champi...

The Costa Rican Social Security authority started implementing the pulse-oximetry screening tests in 28 health establishments for the detection of congenital heart conditions in newborn babies. The application of this screening test began in August of 2016 and so far 16 cases have been detected, out of which, two are severe and have required the intervention of specialized teams of the Costa Ri...

Former ExxonMobil Corp. Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson, nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be secretary of state, said Wednesday that he believed that the risk of climate change exists but that the effect of greenhouse gas emissions on global warming was hard to predict. Tillerson was asked several questions about climate change during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreig...

An ad published in social media invited those interested in participating in a casting to take part of a porn film. The casting was supposed to take place in a five-star hotel in Escazu, but interested parties had to pay $200.00 to be considered. “Candidates must be over 21 years-old, have good personal hygiene, be willing participants and present recent blood tests”, read the ad. Victor La...

The International Baccalaureate (IB) high school diploma offered in Costa Rica by 26 private high schools is accessible to students in public schools through scholarship programs and the help of companies, universities and private schools. The initiative is part of a social responsibility program carried out by companies such as Boston Scientific, Britt Coffee and DHL along with the Association...

Many times, we hear complaints about the high cost of vacationing in Costa Rica, usually these complaints come from locals who affirm vacationing in our own country costs the same or more than vacationing abroad; and every so often we can hear the same complaint coming from foreign tourists, which makes you wonder if this is actually true or just a perception. Granted, many factors come into pl...

New York City-based luxury real estate marketplace Concierge Auctions is kicking off the new year in style with 10 diverse luxury real estate opportunities. The impressive lineup — which spans two US states, Costa Rica, Israel, Italy, and the United Kingdom — will sell via the firm's Instant Gavel app, which allows potential buyers to bid in real-time from anywhere in the world. The diverse Januar...

Football's governing body, FIFA, voted on Tuesday to expand the World Cup to 48 teams from its current 32, brushing aside concerns that the expansion would lower the overall standard of the tournament and make it too big and unwieldy. FIFA president Gianni Infantino, fulfilling a promise he made during last year's election campaign, said the move meant that "more can participate and many more w...

Several new self-named “low-cost” airlines began operations in Costa Rica this past year, and currently there is a total of eight offering their services in the country and covering different routes: Spirit, JetBlue, WestJet, Southwest, Volaris, Interjet, Wingo and Veca Airlines. Having options is a good thing, certainly, and when it comes to traveling many try to save as much as possible in ti...

The “Kölbi” National Surf Tournament will have kick start its seventeenth edition this January 21st and 22nd at Dominical Beach; in total this event will have six different dates, visiting the main four ocean sites in Costa Rica: North Pacific, South Pacific, Central Pacific and the Caribbean: January 21 and 22 Dominical Beach March 25 and 26 Puerto Viejo April 22 and 23 Santa Teresa May 20 ...

This Monday, the different sports schools that are part of the Costa Rican Institute of Sports and Recreation (ICODER), will begin with this year's FREE summer classes for kids and teenagers to enjoy during their vacation period. 16 different disciplines will be offered in La Sabana Park, including: basketball, volleyball, rugby, softball, cricket, soccer, hockey, jiu jitsu, gymnastics, athleti...

Food and nutrition security are not improving in Latin American - some 34 million people continue to suffer from malnutrition, 47.7 percent of children under age 5 suffer from anemia and 49.8 percent, approximately 1.3 million, have chronic malnutrition. The figures "have not varied ostensibly in the region, they remain the same and are very worrying," the World Food Program (WFP) regional dire...

The 74th edition of the Golden Globes awards presented by Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) took place Sunday night at the Hotel Beverly Hilton Los Angeles. Jimmy Fallon parodied the opening scene from musical "La La Land" - the favorite of the night with seven nominations - to kick off Golden Globes 2017. Fallon imitated Ryan Gosling, the leading actor of the critically-acclaimed m...

One again Costa Rica is included in the top ten of the world’s best places to retire in 2017 by International Living. International Living stated: “For just over a quarter of a century, International Living has ranked rated and named the best retirement destinations in the world. Each year we’ve redefined and improved the process, bringing new categories and considerations into play, gathering ...