About the Cámara de Turismo Guanacasteca

Who are we?

Cámara de Turismo Guanacasteca is a non-profit association founded in 1994 by Hubert Gysemans, and since then it has worked for the development and positioning of Guanacaste as an excellent eco-sustainable destination. In the same way, we defend our affiliates best interests.

CATURGUA serves the needs of tourism by generating actions and activities that directly benefy them, this is due to the Declaration of Public Utility that we possess. It focuses in promoting the destination nationally and internationally, it also supports the opening of new markets and the arrival of new airlines to Daniel Oduber International Airport.

Our affiliates know that being part of CATURGUA is a way to help with the development of the province, since our team leads projects related to road infrastructure, airports, telecommunications, culture, training, environment, among others.

A mission.

Manage strategic initiatives to promote the development of sustainable tourism in Guanacaste, representing our affiliates and based on our values.

A vision

Be a leader and model chamber of tourism, promoting actions that make Guanacaste worldwide, a sustainable tourism destination of excellence.

Caturgua in Action

Courses, negotiations with government and institutions, promotion of SMEs, fostering education, boosting tourism, are just some of the daily tasks that drive the Guanacaste Chamber of Tourism.

Some of the activities we develop are:

• Sustainable Tourism Forums.
• Semiannually Market Research.
• Job Fairs.
• Fam Trips and wholesaler visits.
• Talks and workshops on different topics (CSR, etc.).
• Partnerships with other entities in the sector.
• Seminars.

Our Board Members

Role	Name	Company
President	Hernán Binaghi	Hotel Westin Conchal
Vice-President	José Tomás Batalla	Hotel Hacienda Guachipelín
Secretary	Fernando Madrigal	Sensoria
Treasurer	Manuel Ardón Castro	Península Papagayo
Member 1	Aileen Ocampo	Buena Vista del Rincón
Member 2	Dicgiana Gómez Jaén	Mardigi Tours
Member 3	José Monge	Enjoy Group
Member 4	César Gallardo	PEXS
Member 5	Luis Diego Hidalgo	Swiss Travel
Fiscal	Roberto Echeverría	Hotel Ríu
Honorary President	Hubert Gysemans
Honorary President	Álvaro Conejo

Our Staff

	Role	Name
	Executive Director	Rebeca Álvarez Núñez
	Assistant Director	Catalina Villarreal
	Executive Assistant	Diana Sánchez Angulo
	Customer Service Executive	Elber Hernandéz Rivera
	Customer Service Executive	Anthony Rodríguez Rodríguez

Our history

CATURGUA was founded in 1994, with the participation of several visionary entrepreneurs in the area. It started with about 25 members, mainly from the canton of Santa Cruz as an initiative to organize the sector and defend their interests, but it soon expanded its scope to other areas of the province.

One of the most important achievements in recent years was the active participation in the commission for the pre-opening of the Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport in Liberia, a joint committee of public and private sector, led by this Chamber.

Later, the Chamber participated and lead the alliance between Reserva Conchal, Hacienda Pinilla and Papagayo Eco-Development to secure the funds required for Delta Airlines to start flying to this airport. This was the beginning of the growth of Guanacaste as a touristic destination and the beginning of many successes for Caturgua and Guanacaste.

In 2004 the Board of the Chamber formalized a task force and increased the capabilities and achievements of Caturgua in different areas. A group of marketing tools for the province is created. The research on flight information, visitor's profiles and other information for use by the affiliates started to flow, which increased from 25 founding members to more than 100 affiliates.

The Chamber also appears on the national map becoming part of commissions, boards and delegations to improve security, telecommunications, road infraestructure and services in the area, among others. Besides appearing regularly in the media by maintaining direct contact with the different government bodies in the process of obtaining the welfare of Guanacaste.

Today, the Chamber is formed by a team focused on generating consolidated actions to benefit the sector, always with the working philosophy that promotes the social and economic development of the region.

Since its origin in 1994, the Directive Board has maintained strong values and set an example as a 100% transparent association in all the work it develops. Along with a private company holding the monthly accounting, CATURGUA has a second company that annually audits the financial statements of the association, so that members can have peace of belonging to a Chamber that is doing things right.

In cases where there have been projects including donations from the private sector, CATURGUA has always hired specialized companies to audit the management of funds from such donations. For its prestige and its important role in the province, the Chamber has been declared as a community interest organization.

Why should I belong to CATURGUA?

1) Recognition in tourism, which brings credibility and represents your business with the highest standards of trust and legality.

2) Tight inter-institutional relations.

3) Positioning of your company locally, nationally, and internationally, through the Chamber's media (maps,website, social media, tourism fairs, stand at Daniel Oduber International Airport, etc).

4) Constant training and executive breakfasts focused on themes of interest and the utilization of posgraduates agreements, with organizations such as INCAE, FUNDEPOS, etc.

5) Recognition of your business among affiliates.

6) Encourage social and enviromental responsability from tourism.

7) Involvement in a variety of sectors.

Our affiliates

We currently have over 180 members including tourism businesses, as well as products and/or services related to the sector. Among our partners we have hotels, tour operators, rent a cars, restaurants, airlines, developers, law firms, accounting and auditing, banking, and many others.

In CATURGUA, the representativeness of the sector is a key point for the success of our work.

Our affiliates are strong companies in the area; from diverse fields and different sizes and scopes (large, medium and small), which makes us a group representing the interests of the entire tourism sector.

For more info, you can contact us through our telephones: (506) 2668-1150 and (506) 2668-1160, or send us an email here .

We are located at Oficentro Plaza Futura, 4km West from the main entrance of Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport, office #2.

Tags: CATURGUA

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info@caturgua.com +506 2668 1160