The National Chamber of Tourism (Canatur) considered a contradiction to the reality that the country’s tourism faces and the urgent need to reactivate it, the provision contained in the Regulation for the Operation of Activities Related to Cetaceans in Costa Rica, which obliges tourists and boat crews to acquire a license, for which they must pay to go on a whale-watching tour. For this reason, Canatur vehemently requests the Government to repeal the provisions and demands greater coherence in reactivation measures.
Article 5 of the regulations require both crew members and tourists onboard vessels dedicated to developing this type of activities for tourism purposes, to carry this taxed document, which must be processed before Incopesca (fishing commission).
“There is a very serious crisis and there must be the obligation to simplify as much as possible bureaucratic procedures, we are concerned that at the beginning of the whale watching season a requirement of these conditions for the hiring of this touristic service, that can mean the only income after several months of inactivity for many people,” said the president of Canatur, Rubén Acón.
What does Incopesca say?
The Executive President of the Costa Rican Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture (INCOPESCA), Daniel Carrasco Sánchez, indicated that he will raise before the board of directors of the entity to postpone the collection of fees for the concept of a license for the observation of cetaceans to tourists who purchase this service, whose collection and other types of regulations are established since 2005 in Executive Decree No. 32495 of January 20, 2005, published in Gazette No. 145, of July 28, 2005, called “Regulations for the Operation of Activities Related to Cetaceans in Costa Rica “, in its article 5. The official points out that the actual cost of the card is $ 5.65 for a day and not $ 30 as stated.
