QCOSTARICA – Representatives of surfing in Costa Rica have asked the members of the Permanent Special Tourism Commission to support them and help to draft a bill by means of which a tax of US$1 is charged for each surfboard entering the country.
The proposal intends that the resources generated by this tax paid by tourists are distributed among the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), the Costa Rican Red Cross and the Surf Federation to encourage the practice of the sport.
The Surf Federation estimates that 16% of the tourists who enter our country come with the purpose of surfing and each carries up to three surfboards.
The national surfer, Carlos “Cali” Muñoz, said that there is a lot of talent in the Caribbean and Puntarenas, but unfortunately, there are not so many resources so that more can become high-performance athletes.
He indicated that when athletes leave the country they have to pay for insurance, tournament registrations, hotel rooms, boards and much more.
For his part, legislator Melvin Núñez, who promoted the National Surf Day law, assured that he is proud that today history is being made, with the support of this sport.
Núñez said that, although it seems that the events of this sport are expensive since up to US$700 thousand is required for the organization of a World Cup, all this money is returned in great publicity at the international level, which gives very good results.
Last month, Hernán Solano, who stepped down Minister of Sports for a run for the PAC presidential nominee said, “Costa Rica has great potential to develop sports tourism, to host major sporting events such as an Iron Man or a world surfing championship.
