Hey Joe

In case you missed this, Joe Biden made a stop in Costa Rica Sunday and Monday, meeting with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and various other Central American leaders. Since the paper's political reporter left a couple weeks ago, and the replacement just started this week, I, the lowly intern, got to join one of the staff reporters and cover the event.

I'd actually covered a Biden event before when I was at The Hill two summers ago. Biden was chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committe and I covered one of his hearings on Iraq. He was just as charamatic now as he was then, although it looked like the campaign and responsibilities of the new office had aged him a bit more.

While Biden's often criticized for longwindedness, I'm somewhat fond of his speaking style. He may say a lot, but he'll eventually get back to answering your question by the end. He says what he thinks, sometimes getting himself into trouble, and his candor is refreshing for a politician. For example, on Monday he told the Central American leaders that his primary concern was getting the U.S. economy back on track (which in itself would be a big help to the small countries of the region which do depend on the economic fortunes of the big brother up north) and said concerns such as immigration reform would have to wait. I may not agree with him 100 percent, but that he was willing to be frank and honest was impressive, and hopefully bodes well for U.S.-Latin American relations.

Speaking of answering questions, no, I didn't get to ask one. Only five questions were permitted by the Costa Rican government press officers, and the themes and questioners were decided beforehand. Two went to local press (taken by the daily paper La Nacion and business daily La Republica), two went to wires (AP and AFP) and one to an international paper (we thought we might have a shot at this, but it went to a reporter from Guatemala instead--and yes, there were other countries there than Costa Rica and the U.S., although all the questions were addressed to Biden).

All in all, it was still a very exciting day. Since Leland, the staff reporter, was also covering the event for The Miami Herald, I got to write the story for the daily page (read it here). We also collaborated later this week for the print edition story, and editorial, which I'll post tomorrow when they are published.

Rocking times over, tourism slump has Costa Rica singing the blues

You won't believe me, but the music metaphor wasn't my idea but my editor's. But anyways, here's my story (as promised) about how the economic slowdown is taking its toll on the tourism industry in Costa Rica. I've posted the first few paragraphs, click on the link for the whole story:

On a Saturday night in Puerto Viejo in late January, Rocking J's is packed. The hostel, a popular destination for backpackers and budget travelers on the Caribbean, teems with twenty-somethings shouting and laughing, kicking back with a beer after a long day of surfing and tanning on the beach.

Unfortunately, nights like this are increasingly rare in Costa Rica these days. In interviews with nearly a dozen hotel owners, tour operators and tourism officials, almost all expressed the same concern: The global economic downturn is beginning to take its toll on tourism in Costa Rica. And many are worried, unsure when the crisis is going to end and just what can be done to weather the storm.

“We were dead in the water,” Rocking J's owner Joseph John Korchmaros said of the slowdown that hit his hostel beginning in October, considered to be the high season in the Caribbean. “We could barely stay afloat. We didn't have a high season.”

For the tourism industry in much of the country, the high season is just beginning. But according to a poll of 66 businesses conducted by the National Tourism Chamber (CANATUR) last month, more than 60 percent of respondents said reservations for the first quarter of 2009 were down compared to 2008. Those that reported a slowdown said reservations had declined an average of 29 percent. And the number of passengers at Juan Santamaría International Airport was down 8.25 percent for the first 15 days of the month, CANATUR reported.

“Definitely, there is a slowdown,” said Alexi Huntley, commercial director at Nature Air. “We've seen about a 10 percent reduction in passengers flown. People are really shopping around; they are more price-sensitive and are comparing different providers. People are holding on to their money more, and that hurts everybody. Everyone's a little freaked out.”