-Published: Thursday, January 9, 2020-




By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Chamber of Tourism has announced its opposition to the unilateral decision of the U.S. government to reduce its evaluation of security in Costa Rica. The latest U.S. travel advisory dropped Costa Rica from the top level to the second.

The U.S. government issues these advisories to help ensure the safety of the U.S. citizens traveling to other countries. There are four categories with the fourth advising citizens not to travel to the country at all. Countries such as Iraq and South Sudan are in the fourth category.

According to the alert issued Monday by the U. S. government, Costa Rica was lowered from Level 1 to level 2, which means that U.S. citizens must "exercise increased caution in Costa Rica due to crime."  Level 1 says exercise normal precautions. Most northern European countries are included in this category.

The third level advises travelers to reconsider travel plans. Honduras and Haiti are listed that way.

"While petty crime is the predominant threat for tourists in Costa Rica, violent crime, including armed robbery, homicide and sexual assault, occurs in Costa Rica," said the U.S. Department of State in its statement.

However, the U.S. also mention that "the Costa Rican government provides additional security resources in areas frequented by tourists."

In the warning the authorities gave this series of recommendations to tourists who decide to travel to Costa Rica:

- Be aware of your surroundings.

- Do not physically resist any robbery attempt.

- Do not display signs of wealth, such as wearing expensive watches or jewelry.

According to the tourism chamber, the level reduction places Costa Rica alongside countries such as El Salvador, México, Guatemala, Perú, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Italy and even the United Kingdom.

“It is contradictory that the U.S. Government make this decision despite the efforts we have made jointly, the private and public sector, with evidently successful results,” said Sary Valverde, vice president of the chamber. "Also, we are surprised by the informality with which the country receives this announcement, and more we are amazed by an alleged change in the evaluation methodology without providing details on the new parameters that justify the change of category."

Given this situation, the chamber gathered its Board of Directors to an urgent meeting Wednesday in which representatives of different chambers and companies in the tourism sector joined. They agreed on the need to formally respond and tell the representatives of the U.S. government “the discontent of the sector by the repercussions that this qualification could have on the tourist activity."

The Costa Rican government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced that it "respect the decision of a country of which it has been a partner, friend and ally in different fields."

However, the government said it "believes that reducing from level 1 to 2 is unfair and disproportionate, which is why it categorically oppose that and they will establish the corresponding diplomatic processes to reiterate the improvements that the country has been implemented. "

According to the ministry, the U.S. Embassy in San José had informed that the category reduction "is due to an adjustment in the evaluation metric."

However, the adjustment in the evaluation metric was not explained to the government, the ministry said.

The ministry confirmed that it was informed that the U.S. government changed the travel advisory category to most of the countries in the world, reducing them from level 1 to 2. It is "a change that will take place gradually according to their unilateral vision, with the argument that U.S. citizens will be more alert to the risks."

The notice issued to U.S. citizens considering traveling to Costa Rica means that the predominant threat to tourists is minor crime.

According to data from the Ministry of Security, 688 tourists were robbed in 2019 of their belongings, cell phones or passports.

According to the ministry, the level reduction is particularly unexpected because it equals Costa Rica, "which closed 2019 with a homicide rate of 11 per 100,000 inhabitants," with countries that are among the most violent in the world and whose "rate exceeds 50 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants."

Costa Rica is a tourist destination with 5 million inhabitants that in 2018 received 3,016,667 international tourists, a number that grew in 2019 around 5%, said the ministry.

According to the ministry, tourism to Costa Rica will continue to grow because "the country is perceived and recognized in its main markets, including 1.2 million of the U.S. citizens who visit us, because of our nature, of hospitality welcoming to visitors, of the level of human well-being of the country, of trust and of security. "

All improvement in tourism security that the U.S. Embassy in San José has requested to the government have been reached and exceeded with successful results, particularly the recommendations on the prevention of dying by drowning, said the minister.

According to the ministry, during the last 18 months, improvements have been made in the attention of tourism, among these are:

- The annual budget of $1 million to strengthen tourism security.

- Law 9780 "Implementation of lifeguard units on national beaches," which establishes the creation of the National Commission for the Prevention of Drowning.

- Agreements between the Costa Rican Tourism Institute and the Costa Rican Red Cross to improve attention to tourists.

- The Judicial Investigation Organization set a process to give priority to the complaints of international tourists victims of crimes and the authorization to the Tourist Police to attend complaints from victims in distant areas where there are no Judicial Investigation offices.

- Training of 11 bilingual prosecutors in tourism security.


The U.S. government issued a worldwide alert to its citizens Wednesday citing “heightened tension in the Middle East that may result in security risks to U.S. citizens abroad.”


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