On Friday, Oct 18th, in Playa Hermosa de Jaco, the President of the Republic, Carlos Alvarado, signed the decree that endorses the first celebration of the National Surf Day in Costa Rica and the declaration of this sport as an economic, sporting, tourist, and public interest. Thanks to the efforts of deputy Melvin Núñez Piña, who worked along with the Costa Rican Surf Federation (FSC) to present the project to the The Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica.
“Today is simply a historic day, not only for surfing, but for Costa Rica’s sports in general. With this declaration, that Deputy Núñez Piña and his whole team worked, today we hope that, from now on, the state institutions give us full support of this sport, “said Randall Chaves, president of the Federation.
“With the declaration we want to look for new employment opportunities for coastal areas, such as creating surf instructors and lifeguards certified by INA (Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje). With this we seek to reduce the impact of drowning deaths in Costa Rica, as well as the tourism that visits these areas will have a better experience, “he added.
This intention aims to promote all kinds of actions that go in favor of the sport that generates millions of dollars a year thanks to the tourist visitation that enters the country due to surfing. In fact, the Deputy, based on data released by the same ICT in previous years on the economic impact of the waves as a sports input in the country, dictates that more than 600,000 surfers visit us every year and that they stay on average 17 days and spend 122 dollars a day.
The activity was attended by the Ministers of Tourism, Sports, Environment and the Mayor of Garabito, it was more than protocol, a true celebration in the coexistence of the highest authorities of the country, along with several of the best surfers and part of the community of this sport in Costa Rica, figures such as Carlos Muñoz, Jair Pérez and Gilbert Brown, among other representatives of sports related disciplines.
Photo sourced from http://www.mariosegura.com