Flea at Mavericks : photo Will Henry
Environment News
What is a Wave Worth?
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 17 February, 2007 : - - Quality surfing waves have an enormous social and economic value that is often underestimated by political leaders and businesspeople. The surf apparel industry alone represents annual sales in excess of $8 billion dollars a year. What was once considered a sport for beach bums and dirtbags has become a major industry, with a demographic that has completely changed since its early years.
These days, professionals from all walks of life take to the water, bring their families to the beach, and spend top dollar to travel to exotic locations around the world to enjoy the waves. In the United States there are currently over 2 million surfers, according to Action Sports Retailers, twice as many as there were 20 years ago.
Certain places in the world have been smart enough to capitalize on their surfing resources. Destinations like Puerto Escondido in Mexico, Bali and the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia, and the Hawaiian Islands in the US, have all experienced huge boosts to their tourism revenues by catering to the surfing crowd. .
Located in Central America, the country was once as impoverished as its neighbors. In the 1980’s and 1990’s surfers began to travel to Costa Rica in droves, due to its multitude of high quality waves, warm water, and proximity to what was then the world’s biggest surf market - the United States. Costa Rica used the image of surfing to promote itself to the world, and now boasts the healthiest economy and highest standard of living in the entire region. Here are some statistics from Costa Rica’s Government Tourism Board:
Surfers Visiting Costa Rica in 2006: 100,278
Average Stay: 17 days
Average Spent per Day: US $122
Approximate Revenue Per Person: US $2074
Approximate Revenue for Costa Rica: US $207,900,000
Population of Costa Rica: 3,000,000
The lesson for governments and developers around the world is: don’t mess with the waves. They are a natural resource that should never, ever be sacrificed. In the words of Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, Inc., “natural surf breaks should be treated as world heritage sites, and should never be destroyed no matter what the reason".
Read the full article by Will Henry at Save the Waves.org
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SurfersVillage.com on the 18th February 2007.
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