Mist
Approaching via a reflecting pool and a lush foliage flanked walkway that leads to the front door, Mists entry greets with a choice of submerging into massive public spaces or ascending stairs to the luxurious bedrooms. Mists public spaces immediately lead you from an airy interior into nature. Consisting of a large open floor plan providing dramatic ocean views the first floor blurs the line between interior and exterior from the substantial garden situated inside to the large patio and infinity edge pool outside. A few stairs up from the entry, the bedrooms – all with private cantilevered balconies – sit in the trees and on top of the world - offering all the ecological friendly amenities of home with the bonus of living among the monkeys.

Costa Rica's 2008 Progress Report - First half.
By Tom Rosenberger - Costa Rica construction expert with permission from Scott Oliver, the author of How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa and Costa Rica's Guide To Making Money Offshore and the founder of http://www.WeLoveCostaRica.com where you will find over 1,700 free articles and videos about living in Costa Rica.

During the first five months of 2008, more than 133,000 foreigners visited Costa Rica which is a 16% increase over 2007.

The Costa Rican Institute of Tourism (ICT) launched an aggressive marketing and advertising campaign in light of the economic recession in the USA. The ICT is investing $14 million dollars in marketing to promote Costa Rica as an exotic destination. This advertising campaign will be online and through a public relations agency that the ICT hired in New York.

Because Costa Rica is closer to the USA, it is less expensive than many destinations such as Europe, Thailand and other Asian countries. In spite of current economic hardships and more expensive airline fares resulting from increased fuel costs, more Americans continue to favor trips to Costa Rica over other popular destinations.

The arrival of tourists in Costa Rica continues increasing, despite the current hardships of U.S. economy and more expensive plane tickets resulting from the upward trend of fuels.

Because of its popularity as one of the worlds most sought after destinations for business and pleasure, Costa Rica will be affected very little by the recently published airline cancellations.

Currently, the USA Airlines offer 106 weekly flights into San Jose and Liberia international airports as follows:

Airline Weekly Flights to Costa Rica:

• American 43
• Continental 25
• Delta 24
• Spirit 7
• US Airways 7

Additionally, business travel is steadily increasing and for good reason. The World Economic Forum recently studied 18 Latin American countries to identify the best conditions for trade and business. Costa Rica ranked 2nd in Latin America and 44th globally.

54% of visitors arrive from the United States. Europe, the second largest market, accounts for 17% of the visitors to Costa Rica. The majority of the European visitors are from Spain, Germany, France, England, and Italy. The ICT is intensifying publicity in Russia, France and Switzerland, which are also attractive growing markets.

Exploration of Asian markets is on the agenda as well. Last year an agreement was signed with China, adding Costa Rica as a preferential tourist destination. The ICT predicts a growth rate of 6% in the inflow of tourists into the country in 2008, compared with 10.15% achieved last year.

Last year, seven new airlines began flying to Costa Rica, four US and three European. Costa Rica is now working to attract more low-cost American airlines as well as large European airlines interested in adding Costa Rica as a new destination.

The option to fly to Costa Rica has increased by 675,000 seats. The number of seats available for travel here rose to 2.7 million, an increase of 33% over the last several years.

Guanacaste, the Pacific Coast - Increase in Tourism in 2008

Tourism in Guanacaste reached a new high in the first three months of 2008, as more than 150,000 people flew into the region via the Liberia airport. The new figures confirm that Guanacaste has become the principal tourism destination of the country, with many tourists so satisfied with their experience that they keep coming back for more.

Tourism's Effects in Costa Rica:

1. More local residents have jobs
2. Tax receipts are increasing
3. Rundown areas are being cleaned up
4. Most Costa Rican's view new development projects as an opportunity to improve theirs and their family's lives

Costa Rica as a Destination for Entrepreneurs:

Surveys of recent travelers to Costa Rica indicate they are well educated and spend considerable discretionary income on travel. The majority are adventurous with their choices of activities and accommodations and plan their own trips versus relying on travel agents.

These primarily American tourists are affluent, college educated, middle aged, and married without children living at home. Their education and income levels indicate they are high-end travelers.

Activities in Costa Rica:

Conservative travel activities and moderate length of stay are favored by the typical Costa Rica traveler. The majority of the first-time travelers prefer Costa Rica more than any other Latin American destination that they had visited based on Costa Rica's ecotourism and its unspoiled environment.

The primary activities of these travelers are:

• Ecotourism
• Sightseeing
• Beach and Waterfront Activities

Rank of Latin American Countries:

The fact that Costa Rica was ranked as the number-one tourist destination among Latin American countries indicates its current worldwide attractiveness as one of the worlds top tourist destinations.

Income Levels:

More than 80 percent have an annual household income of over $100,000, and among these, more than half have an annual income over $200,000. These travelers are clearly an affluent group, with incomes higher than both average Americans and typical international leisure travelers. Although the travelers to Costa Rica spent more than $2,500 for their trip, only 25 percent spend more than $7,500.

Travel Preferences:

People with adventuresome personalities want to explore the world in all of its diversity, and they feel comfortable in cultures where they do not speak the language. The travelers who prefer Costa Rica are comfortable traveling to countries with different languages and cultures. Most do not participate in guided tours and rely on their own judgment regarding what they do at their destination.

Trend of Market Growth:

Recent statistics reveal that the number of U.S. travelers to Costa Rica is increasing. The top three most visited international tourism destinations are Western Europe (39.5%), Central America (23.9%), and the Caribbean (17.4%).

Despite the interruption in travel after the 9/11 terrorist attack, the number of U.S. tourists to Costa Rica increased 30 percent from 1999 to 2003, a rate that exceeds the growth of travel to Costa Rica by travelers from all nations.

General Travel Patterns:

Travelers to Costa Rica are accustomed to spending large sums of discretionary income on travel, which includes airfare, lodging, meals, activities and ground transportation. Based on statistics of international tourists to Costa Rica, the average length of stay is eleven days, while 63% stay between seven and ten days and only 6% spent more than three weeks in the country.

A large percentage of Costa Rica's tourists are frequent travelers, traveling internationally more than twice a year. They usually travel with other people instead of traveling alone and most travel with their spouses or partners or with friends, children, or business associates.

Some travelers use public buses or other ground transportation to pre-booked destinations, while most preferred to obtain a car and find their own way around. In contrast, the largest portion preferred tour buses or taxis, indicating the arrival of more conservative travelers in Costa Rica.

By Keyea Coullette
CostaRicaPages.com

Costa Rica is building it all… and fast. Even famous actor and movie producer Mel Gibson owns land in the popular tourist destination and is also looking to move his film production company to the booming little country. With all this expansion, development, and growth several United States companies are also expanding to attend to their migrating clients.

Lehman Brothers Bank is one U.S. based company that has moved business to the tropical oasis. Lehman Brothers, a top-tier investment bank and market leader in mortgage and consumer loan securitization, headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, has announced plans to finance mortgages for foreigners planning to call Costa Rica their new home.

The bank is making history on the local real estate front in Costa Rica as it will be the first foreign bank in Costa Rica to provide home financing to non-residents in the area. There have been other groundbreaking companies that have moved to Costa Rica to help provide mortgage services to foreigners to help their dream of a tropical sanctuary become a reality. However, most of these companies, like Costa Rica Mortgage located in both San Jose and in Tamarindo Beach, are independent mortgage brokers rather than actual banks.

Lehman Bros. signed a deal with Stewart Title, with an office already located in the capital city, and made plans to facilitate the financial process on Costa Rican soil. Eric Hibbert, the managing director of Lehman’s resort home lending group in New York, believes that when it came to expanding Lehman’s mortgage lending opportunities outside the United States, “they (Stewart Title) were a natural fit”.

Stewart Title Latin America is an independent agent for Stewart Title Guaranty Company and a service provider for Stewart Title Guaranty de Mexico S.A. de CV and is designed to help U.S. citizens navigate foreign real estate transactions in Latin America. The company has a network of offices in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, to help solidify any vacation home or retirement estate. Hibbert announced that Lehman also intends “to use all the title companies that are operating in Costa Rica” meaning the deal will not be exclusive.

Until about three years ago non-residents in Costa Rica were not permitted to use Costa Rica banks to take out home mortgages, however, the real estate market didn’t see an effect on home sales at all. Potential buyers would cross borders with cash in hand and some would even take out second mortgages back home instead in order to purchase the home of their dreams.

After realizing the large and ever growing foreign market for Costa Rica real estate, some other local banks have since loosened up their lending procedures and restrictions, opening up the mortgage market to foreigners, however, the red tape is still a little sticky, and most legal contracts are written all in Spanish.

Stewart Title plans to work with seven other local banks ranging between private institutions such as HSBC and Scotiabank to the state-controlled national bank Banco Nacional and Banco de Costa Rica.

Stewart Title didn’t hesitate to sign on to Lehman’s Costa Rican endeavor thanks to Lehman Brother’s international name recognition which is believed to give confidence and security to future borrowers.

Operations were set to commence as of July 1, 2008 about the same date that Lehman Brother’s opened a similar agreement in Mexico. Continued global expansion seems to be something in the near future for Lehman Brothers. Future clients will be able to inquire about six different amortization periods. One to 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with 20% down on the home purchase price will be available for future property owners, however, the mortgages aren’t going to be a piece of cake to obtain.

Only those with a credit score of 700 or higher will be considered, however, the mortgages will be secured with the property through a lien filed with the National Registry of property. Lehman only plans to deal with U.S. citizens in the beginning of operations with the intention of expanding their services with time.

The official launch of the Stewart/Lehman endeavor was held this past June at the Hotel Playa Conchal in the northwestern province of Guanacaste. When Hibbert was asked why Costa Rica was chosen he explained that “when you look at the demographics of the baby boomer population, we believe that there will be a lot of baby boomers looking for vacation (and living) opportunities outside of the United States. Costa Rica has built a very nice brand, and people are heading there.”
 

“Our most enjoyable experience during our trip to Black Beauty Village, besides direct contact with Mother Nature, was meeting an incredible Kalia team with unconditional enthusiasm and inconceivable vision and passion. The well organized trip was very relaxing and rejuvenating. It was difficult to leave.”