XII. Sponsorship

Promotion
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In efforts to help financially sustain the Parque de Esferas for archaeological research and recreational activity, as well as promote the Parque internationally and inspire tourists to visit and vacation in the area, the development of the Parque design includes unique programmatic activities. The activities compliment and build on the current national recreational offerings so as to make the Diquís Valley a destination point for specific touristic activities. Sponsorship will assist in the financial sustenance of the Parque and become a stimulus to support the local economy.

Technology is ever changing and is revolutionizing the way people think, the way people work, and the way people play. The impact of technology on today's culture is something to consider and to strategically utilize. We propose adding a "virtual" component to the programmatic activities of the Parque whereby the stone spheres are the focus. The high-tech capabilities using advanced cellular and GPS technology for geocaching games is consistent with the mystery and unknown purpose of the stone spheres and provides another incentive for visitation to the Parque.

Regional Geocaching (click for larger image)

Thus the proposal to both market and sponsor the Parque as an international geocaching center, whereby tourists capture "virtual points" for visiting various regional and local destinations is consistent with the magnitude of mystery and challenge of discovery at the core of the stone spheres. Geocaching is a high-tech recreational game that utilizes electronic Global Positioning System (GPS) devices to locate geocaches, or prizes, left at various places using geographical coordinates. The internet is used to document cache accrual and findings and provide clues to the cache prizes.

GPS units are found in cell phones in Europe and in the future will rollout to be standard in all cell phones. Interestingly enough, in March 2002, Alcatel made an agreement with Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) to rollout the first GSM/GPRS Network in Costa Rica that will offer mobile services across a nationwide network. The infrastructure will be in place in the next three years. Now is the time to capitalize on the rolling out of the infrastructure and consider the future capabilities and high-tech potential in the Parque. It has been anticipated that in the future geocache races and high reward adventure games around geocaching will take place. Why not take place in the geoCenter? The spherical center? A unique opportunity exists to provide high-tech games that interplay with the intrigue of the spheres to offer another scale of recreational enterprises in Costa Rica.

Local Geocaching (click for larger image)