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Position In The Export Market
ICT Unveils
Regional Office in Guanacaste
ICT Unveils
Regional Office in Guanacaste
(InfoWebPress) – Starting on April 20, the
province of Guanacaste has two regional
offices of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute
(ICT). They are located in Liberia and
Nicoya, and their goal is to facilitate and
expedite paperwork and other procedures for
tourism businesses in the region, so that
they don’t have to go to San Jose to take
care of them.
This initiative is part of Bill No. 14.805
that created the Guanacaste Tourism
Promotion Agency (APROTUG). The offices will
employ a total of seven people each. They
will handle sustainability certifications,
tourism declarations, and permits for
operating on the Land Maritime Zone (ZMT).
Total investment in the two offices reached
200 million colones ($363,000).
APROTUG has been proposed as a decentralized
office of ICT, whose creation came out of
the need to focus efforts on the growing
Guanacaste tourism industry — having more
presence in the region and developing the
state’s tourism-governing entity even more
through an operational arm dedicated to
efforts targeted at tourism in Guanacaste.
This presence is expected to positively
impact other sectors of the economy,
translating into more jobs, higher family
revenues, a reduction in poverty levels,
better distribution of wealth, better
opportunities for youth, training and
education.
Guanacaste tourism businesses will benefit
from more efficient services in areas such
as legal procedures (incentives,
concession), promotion, development of small
businesses, security issues, and better
attention of suggestions and complaints
filed by tourists — that is, all primary
service aspects handled more quickly,
without the need to travel to ICT’s
headquarters in San Jose.
Ultimately, the regional promotion agency
seeks to maximize the impact of tourism on
Guanacaste’s economy, which could become a
role model for other regions needing better
promotion of their tourism offerings. The
agency is also considered to be a feedback
mechanism for residents, municipalities,
investors and tourism promoters at the
national and international levels.
The bill that enacted APROTUG makes it clear
that all policies adopted for Guanacaste
will be guided by ICT. The regional agency
will have more of an operational role to
facilitate implementation of ICT policies in
Guanacaste, helping to channel suggestions
and demands.
Guanacaste was elected to be the first
region with its own tourism promotion agency
because of the importance of tourism in the
local economy.
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