Tourism is extremely important to Tamarindo. It has brought jobs, new roads and other improvements to our community. As an older woman, I can see that young people today have opportunities that were not available to my generation.
I am a member of a cultural dance group. We work to keep our older traditions alive. It is not always easy to know whether our efforts are succeeding, but sometimes hotels invite us to perform for their guests. Those invitations give us some income and a chance to show visitors that Tamarindo is more than beaches and surfing.
Tourism has also helped education. Technical training has improved greatly, especially because the construction industry needs skilled young workers. That is a real benefit.
But tourism also replaced an older way of earning a living. Cattle-breeding used to be one of the main activities in this region. Much of the grassland was sold and turned into hotels. Farmers received money for their land, but many were left without a continuing income.
Most of those former farmers are elderly now. They cannot easily find work in hotels or construction. Young people may move into the new tourism economy, but older people are often left outside it while prices continue to rise for everyone.
Our grandchildren can find work in tourism, but many older people lost the land and livelihood they understood.
I am glad there are jobs for the younger generation. At the same time, tourism in Tamarindo is strongly influenced by surfer culture, and that culture does not always show much respect for older people or local customs.
We see tourists sunbathing naked or having sex in public places. These actions may seem normal or harmless to the visitors involved, but they are offensive to many people who live here.
Young people watch what tourists do. They copy the way visitors dress, speak, drink and behave. Tourists may not intend to become examples, but that is what happens when children and teenagers see them every day.
If visitors showed us a little more respect, perhaps our young people would learn to show more respect too.
I would especially like tourists to be more careful about alcohol and drugs. These substances are causing serious problems among our young people. A visitor may leave after one or two weeks, but the habits and market created around them remain in our community.
Our dance group wants to use the money from hotel performances to start a project against drugs and alcohol. We would also like to hire a teacher who can help us revive the traditional dances properly.
Tourists can support that idea by showing a genuine interest in local culture. If guests ask hotels for traditional dance performances, the hotels will have a reason to invite us. That gives our group both an audience and the resources to continue.
I welcome the opportunities tourism brings, especially for our grandchildren. In return, I ask visitors to respect the people and values already here—and to help us make local culture more visible than the drugs, alcohol and careless behaviour threatening it.