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The Guanacaste Chamber of Tourism (CATURGUA) and the Youth Action Foundation (FAJ) have joined forces to present the I High School Surf Tournament that will take place December 13th at Tamarindo Beach.

The idea to create this first ever high school surf competition in Costa Rica’s province of Guanacaste was to promote the practice of this sport while at the same time encourage kids to stay in school.  As a matter of fact, the requirement for boys and girls to compete is to be actively enrolled in one of Guanacaste’s public or private schools.

According to CATURGUA’s director, Mauricio Cespedes, the region will benefit from this competition as it increases tourism while offering a safe and healthy environment for today’s kids.  In addition, the tournament will also provide a space for new talents to appear.

Cespedes also mentioned that the organization wishes to support socially responsible activities such as the case of encouraging kids to stay in school.  The idea for the tournament was presented by a group of students after the director of the Youth Action Foundation (FAJ) gave a lecture at their school.

The FAJ saw great potential behind the idea at the same time that the event would open the doors for future similar activities.

Guanacaste offers great places for surfing such as the case of Tamarindo where the competition will take place.  According to CATURGUA, at least 30% of visitors to Guanacaste practice surf as one of their main activities in the region.

written by Carolyn Ramer \\ tags: CATURGUA, Costa Rica Surf Tournament, costa rica surfing, Mauricio Cespedes, Tamarindo Beach, tamarindo surfing

The Costa Rican Bureau of Tourism (ICT) and the Chamber of Tourism (CANATUR) have teamed up with National Geographic Kids in order to promote the country’s culture, climate and biodiversity.

The “Are we There Yet? World Adventure” National Geographic Kid’s show, which airs in Canada, presents the adventures of two sets of real life brothers and sisters which travel the world and share their experiences on camera.  The show will soon be introduced into the United States by the means of exposure at movie theatres.

ICT and CANATUR have developed two episodes that will air one a month in selected movie theatres.  Both episodes were filmed in Costa Rica and will be included as part of National Geographic Kid’s promotion in U.S movie theatres during the Christmas holidays.

One episode shows the kid’s adventure in a Canopy Tour while the other shows the hosts visiting one of Costa Rica’s Animal Refuge.  Each episode will play for an entire month in 150 movie theatres throughout the United States and will display Costa Rica Trivia Questions at the end of each ad.  In addition, a short 15 second promo of Costa Rica will be played and children will be invited to participate for the chance of a free trip to Costa Rica.

The prize is a 9 day trip for a family of four and will include visits to Costa Rica’s main attractions of Tortuguero National Park in the Caribbean coast, the Arenal Volcano and thermal spring waters and the Manuel Antonio National Park in the Central Pacific Coast.

In order to participate, children must fill out a short quiz about Costa Rica in which they must answer questions related to the country’s climate, animals and vegetation shown in the promo.

written by Carolyn Ramer \\ tags: Costa Rica Chamber of Tourism, Costa Rica National Geographic, Costa Rican Bureau of Tourism

Thousands of Costa Ricans, if not the entire country, comes to a stop every Wednesday night to watch the increasingly exciting finals of the 3rd edition of the Latin American Idol reality show.

The reason is that for the first time, a Costa Rican representative has not only continued to remain on the show, but has matured as a singer before the eyes of Costa Rica, the show’s judges and the rest of Latin America.  18-year-old Maria Jose, who comes from the colonial town of Barva de Heredia, has won over the hearts of many due to her talent, charisma and drive.

From the remaining four finalists, Maria Jose received the support of thousands of fans that voted for her to continue on the show thus giving her a closer opportunity of becoming the next Latin American Idol.

In an emotional night, the first eliminated contestant was Mexico’s representative Pako Madrid who could not hide his frustration of having been sent home.  The show’s host then continued to announce the first finalist who turned out to be Costa Rica’a Maria Jose.  Maria Jose reacted with tears of joy and thanked everyone who supported her and believed in her.  With just two contestants remaining on stage, the host then announced Panama’s Margarita Henriquez as the second finalist leaving Peru’s Sandra Muente out of the finals.

Maria Jose and Margarita Henriquez will be going head to head next Wednesday October 8th after the title of Latin American Idol.  It will be a tight competition for Maria Jose as for Panama has created a massive campaign in support of their contestant as well as declared it of tourist interest.

Costa Rica eagerly awaits next Wednesday’s presentation and hopefully public and private companies will match Panama’s actions in finding creative and efficient ways to encourage enough Costa Ricans to vote and crown Maria Jose as the next Latin American Idol.

written by Carolyn Ramer \\ tags: Latin American Idol, Latin American Idol Final, Maria Jose Castillo