History | Tourism and Ecology | Tourist Arrivals: Numbers

Tourism in Costa Rica

A Bit of History:

In the 1960’s Costa Rica warily became aware that tourism could be an important source of income. The slogan of that time "The Garden of the Americas" already demonstrated a willingness to develop ecological tourism. Back then, only San José had a hotel deserving this name, the Gran Hotel Costa Rica, located on the Plaza de la Cultura. There were few paved roads… but some things have changed since.

The country was connected with the rest of the world by the national airline LACSA, departing from an airport located in the place of the current La Sabana park, at the beginning of Paseo Colon. The international airport, Juan Santamaria, named after the national hero, is now in Alajuela 18 kilometres from the capital. Some flights operate from small Pavas airport, located 4 kilometres from downtown.

The economic sector of tourism began to develop in the 1980’s and is now the country’s main revenue source. In 1955 a law passed that declared areas within a radius of 2 kilometres of volcanic craters to be national parks. In the same year the Costa Rican Institute of Tourism (ICT) was founded. In 1977 the National Park Services (SPN) was created and in 1998 the organisation of all natural reservations was reorganised under the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC – Sistema Nacional de Areas de Conservación). Slowly, Costa Rica’s rich biodiversity was being discovered as an important asset and plans for its protection were compiled. In the 1990’s everything accelerated and the government promoted tourism development on a large scale. Meanwhile, while one of the ICT’s slogans was "COSTA RICA 100% NATURE", slash-and-burn agriculture created a catastrophic deforestation. By 2007 there were 1.9 million visitors in Costa Rica, thereby contributing with 8% of the GNP and around 13% of the country’s employment. Tourism has become the primary source of income (15%) before banana and coffee exportation.

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Tourism and Ecology

The contradictions are evident. On one hand, the country is promoting this image to attract ever more visitors with the slogan "Sin ingredientes artificiales" – "without artificial ingredients". On the other hand it is evident that mass tourism is incompatible with the preservation of nature… So what can be done? We advise to avoid large hotels that had to be built with big bulldozers, destroying the fragile nature. Instead, chose small establishments that are (mostly) more in touch with their environment.

check out:
www.turismo-sostenible.co.cr (the list is not very comprehensible, nor reliable. Also, some hotels are not primarily “ecolodges”)
www.rainforestalliance.com

Well then, Enjoy Your Vacation in COSTA RICA – where NATURE IS CULTURE

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Tourist Arrivals in Costa Rica since 2003

In 2005 more than 1.5 million people have visited Costa Rica, half of whom are North Americans.
The Swedish figure for 5’500 entries. To compare: more than 12’000 Swiss visit the country every year – in proportion to their population they are twice more likely to visit Costa Rica than the Swedish...

But isn’t Costa Rica called the "Switzerland of the Central America"?

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