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Tag: Village San Buenas

Nature Air named an overall winner in Condé Nast Traveler World Savers Awards

Written by Costa Rica Las Villas on . Posted in Costa Rica development, Costa Rica real estate, Costa Rica tourism.

We always recommend that clients fly from San Jose to Palmar Sur regional airport when visiting The Village of San Buenas for the first time. Nature Air recently received an international award from Conde Nast Traveler magazine. Nature Air has daily flights to and from San Jose (Pavas) and Palmar Sur.

The Costa Rica-based airline was acknowledged for comprehensive efforts to compensate for its carbon emissions and social initiatives to promote education and the general welfare in the regions they operate. Nature Air received award from Conde Naste Travler

“Our efforts are aimed at raising the standard of living in the destinations we fly to, while offering an exceptional experience to our passengers” said Alex Khajavi, Founder and CEO of Nature Air. “Awards like World Savers help confirm that we are on the right track, and strengthen a growing community of socially responsible industry pioneers that are on the same path.”
Nature Air offsets 100 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions by subsidizing reforestation and conservation of tropical forests in Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula. Nature Air purchases carbon credits from the government’s National Forestry Financing Fund (FONAFIFO), run by the Ministry of the Environment (MINAET). In addition, Nature Air fuels all ground equipment and vehicles with bio-diesel (a mix of recycled vegetable and cooking oils), collected from airline employees and local restaurants. It’s estimated this biodegradable fuel will reduce roughly 560 tons of CO2 emissions per year.nature air logo
Nature Air also funds a social and educational initiative called the Nature Kids Foundation. Nature Kids aims to provide English education to the communities Nature Air serves. The program has developed two schools, one in Santa Ana and the other in Drake Bay, with the goal of expanding to the rest of the airline’s main destinations. Nature Kids’ students range from elementary age to adults. They learn practical English skills for educational advancement and application in the tourism industry, which dominates regional economies where the schools are located.While some members of the tourism industry have battled tough economic times, Nature Air has continued to grow through eco-friendly cost-cutting strategies. Nature Air continues to invest in its sustainable tourism programs and has increased profits by 22% since 2003.

Alex Khajavi has been invited to speak on a guest panel at the 2010 CNT World Savers Congress on Oct. 20 in Singapore along with representatives from fellow winners: Abercrombie & Kent, Royal Caribbean, Grand Hyatt, and the small Costa Rican hotel chain Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality. He, along with other honorees of the World Savers, will introduce to the heads of the tourism industry – collectively the world’s largest industry at $7 trillion in revenue this year – a range of resources to help them implement more effective and sustainable programs.

Nature Air is the world’s first certified carbon neutral airline and the fastest growing regional airline in Central America. Since its inception in 2000, NatureAir has grown from flying 18,000 passengers annually to more than 140,000 in 2008. Nature Air offers charted flights and 74 daily scheduled flights to 17 destinations in Costa Rica and Panama.

About the Condé Nast Traveler World Savers Awards

The Condé Nast Traveler World Savers Awards are awarded annually to travel companies from around the world for their leadership in social responsibility in the areas of cultural and environmental preservation, education, wildlife conservation, poverty alleviation and health initiatives . An independent panel of 22 judges, leaders from the travel industry and non-governmental organizations, rated airlines, small hotel chains, large hotel chains, city hotels, small lodges and resorts, large lodges and resorts, tour operators and cruiselines against their peers.

Quepos – Dominical Costanera Highway Update

Written by Costa Rica Las Villas on . Posted in Costa Rica development, Costa Rica Pictures, Costa Rica real estate.

The road between Dominical and Quepos is now completely finished. All of the road has been paved, bridges constructed and an easy 30 minute drive is all that separates Quepos/Manual Antonio from Dominical.

Historically, this drive could take up to 2.5 hours. As recently as two years ago this would take well over 1 hour.

Here’s some pictures of the completed highway. http://www.flickr.com/photos/solpropertygroup/sets/72157624256899829/

When we started purchasing land down in the southern zone five years ago it was a bit of challenge to drive to. Potholes on the Pan-American highway, potholes on the road from San Isidro to Dominical, or if you chose to drive through Quepos it added over an hour to go 22 miles.

Now the roads are in great condition on the Pan American highway, they are in great condition from San Isidro to Dominical and the road to Quepos is 30 minutes.

Here’s a video of the new intersection in Dominical: Click here

The time of “discovering” the southern zone is just beginning for most visitors. I believe in the next several years we will see a large increase in the number of visitors to the zone. For those who have ever considered purchasing now is a great time. The slow economy in the United States has lowered prices in many places in Costa Rica as US based owners shed their assets and with the new highways completed, do not hesitate if you eve r considered purchasing before the large influx of visitors come to this zone.

It is also important that developers protect the natural beauty that the Osa region has to offer.

At the Village of San Buenas we are committed to just that. We have removed approximately 75% of non-indigenous trees on the project (MINAE gladly gave us all necessary permits). This action alone took over a year and lots of resources, but we are now starting to see results. (We don’t touch any indigenous tree we find). We are seeing large numbers of loro parrots daily, we can hear the howler monkeys daily, and toucans and macaws are seen several times a week.

The reason for the quick increase (six months) is that they now have access to their food sources. We have also started planting more fruit bearing trees in the development. As we begin putting in roads and walking paths (scheduled to start in 2011) we will be planting almond trees to attract macaws as well as other trees to attract Osa’s magical wildlife.