By Wendy Anders

When your community is 80-90 percent based on tourism, every detail matters.

That’s why business leaders in the surf haven of Tamarindo, Guanacaste stay on top of a whole host of local issues. From promoting tourism to educating citizens on limiting water use, Hernán Imhoff, newly re-elected president of the Tamarindo Chamber of Commerce and Tourism (CCTT) can’t neatly summarize his work.

“During the last two years, intense work has been carried out during several events related to water issues, we also worked jointly with rural aqueducts on projects, offered courses on gastronomy and cocktails, gave tourism education in schools, worked to eliminate Aedes aegypti mosquito breeding grounds, and carried out many other actions to improve conditions for tourism and offer quality services to local and foreign visitors. In addition, we participated in three editions of the Expo Travel Show,” said Imhoff.

While admitting the many challenges of sustaining an economy based practically entirely on tourism, Imhoff also recognized that this “industry without chimneys” has a positive multiplier effect in stimulating economic development through handicraft production, transportation service, and infrastructure development, to name a few areas.

Tamarindo, the 9th district of Santa Cruz, Guanacaste, includes the towns and villages of Tamarindo, Villarreal, Santa Rosa, Garita Nueva, Hernández and San José de Pinilla.

This old fishing village is now one of the most developed tourist communities in Costa Rica. Its geographical and climatic conditions make it an ideal area for surfing and other water sports.

“Tamarindo today is one of the most developed tourist destinations in the northwestern region of the Nicoya Peninsula. It offers premium lodging and other tourist services with cabins, hotels and restaurants of all price ranges,” according to a description in Wikipedia.

In addition, the adjacent Las Baulas Marine National Park, Tamarindo Wildlife Refuge, and Playa Grande, Playa Langosta and Ventanas beaches together constitute the most important nesting area for ​​the American Pacific leatherback sea turtle, the largest in the world, which is in critical danger of extinction.

The CCTT works to promote solutions to the challenges faced by the community in areas such as public safety, professional training, road infrastructure and potable water supplies, among other important issues.