Sustainability and Conservation: Why has Costa Rica become a benchmark for ecotourism?

Sixty-eight years ago, Costa Rica launched a major conservation plan to protect its territory, which contains 5 percent of the world's flora and fauna in just 51,100 square kilometers (0.03 percent of the Earth's surface).

According to Rodrigo Castro, Costa Rica's former Minister of Tourism, this strategy included the creation of the first national parks and the Costa Rican Tourism Institute, the body responsible for promoting the country internationally.

Castro participated in the III Corficolombiana Sustainability Forum, held in Bogotá, where he explained how Costa Rica became one of the most important economic and environmental tourism powers in the region.

According to the World Economic Forum's Travel & Tourism Development Index 2024, Costa Rica ranks 51st, tied with Colombia, with a score of 4.08. Compared to 2019, the country has improved its ranking by 2.9 percent. The index evaluates various factors and policies that promote sustainable and resilient development in the tourism sector.

And is that the country offers a wide variety of tourism experiences that include visits to the Irazú volcano, explorations in its 30 national parks, 19 wildlife refuges and 8 biological reserves. Between 2017 and 2019, the Costa Rican Tourism Institute reported that a large portion of visitors participated in activities such as sun and beach (75.4 percent), ecotourism (64.8 percent) and adventure tourism (61.9 percent).

As part of the forum, EL TIEMPO spoke with the former minister about current traveler trends, the challenges facing the sector and the opportunities to enhance biodiversity experiences in the region.

More than my own, they are the strategies of the country. It is important to mention that Costa Rica started in 1955, with a great vision on the part of our leaders to see opportunities in conservation, even when it seemed to be a dichotomy. In fact, in those years, people were paid about $400 for every hectare of land they gave up in the mountains, because we were living on cattle ranching and agriculture. But at the same time, the first national parks were created in the country, and the Costa Rican Institute of Tourism was created, the body in charge of promoting the country internationally, because that was the starting point. Then, in 1977, the Maritime Terrestrial Zone Law was ed, which also strengthened the country's environmental protection. We have coasts on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The first 200 meters from high tide to the mainland are protected, they belong to the state and cannot be sold, and the first 50 meters are public and inalienable. With this, conservation begins to consolidate with a very futuristic vision that ends with 25 percent of the territory protected and more than 30 national parks in a very small country.

As a result of this conservation policy, so-called "ecotourism" was initiated. At that time, we received a significant number of international visitors who focused on scientific tourism. They were interested in biodiversity, not the tourist experience. However, this has evolved because now the ability to combine this scientific knowledge with the parks, their beauty and the possibility of adventure, strengthens the experience as a great tourism product. This is how we have evolved to what we call 'sustainable tourism', a concept that is used worldwide. This type of tourism is more involved in a different set of activities, involving communities and citizens to be an integral part of the development. There are three fundamental aspects: conservation, which began many years ago with a long-term vision; the integration of citizens in this development; and the economic part.

It's part of the experience. We can see it just by analyzing the behavior of tourists within the country. If we ask travelers what they come for, there are certainly multiple answers, but 80 percent will say they enjoyed the sun and the beach, and 75 percent will say they visited at least one national park. These two options are an integral part of the Costa Rican tourism product, which means we could not have them if we did not guarantee their sustainability. That is why we say that the great ally of sustainability is tourism. We need natural resources and we protect them out of responsibility and because they are also our raw material.

We could talk about education, tourism training and employment opportunities. The country is working on this, but the results will be seen in the long term. Tourism is a great ally because it has the capacity to create jobs quickly with little training, especially in rural areas. In Costa Rica, tourism development is not concentrated in the big cities, but on the coast, in the mountains and in rural areas.

First of all, it is important to define two things: the development model we want and the development model we can offer. Some regions in the Caribbean do not have the same conditions, and there are larger areas where it can be complemented with other types of tourism. Those of us who have the opportunity to offer volcanoes, lakes, beaches, rivers, forests, jungles, biodiversity, take advantage of all these resources and bring them together in a single tourist experience. Tourists need three things: political stability, safety and peace.

They are two market niches that want the same thing: to enrich the traveler's experience through a direct relationship with communities and citizens. We need to take advantage of both. We can't offer what we don't have. We cannot say 'I am a destination of safety and peace' and I am not. Tourists are increasingly prepared and research destinations. We have to be authentic, transparent and deliver what we offer. I know that Colombia has made great efforts and achieved important results, but we must continue to work.

When 8 percent of GDP depends on tourism activity, it is easier. In the case of Colombia, there are other economic activities that contribute a lot to GDP, so tourism is probably not yet positioned or seen as an alternative by regional or central governments. This economic transformation takes time, especially in the face of other much more profitable activities such as mining, oil or gas extraction. It is important to be clear about the basis on which we want to build tourism products and whether we want an ecological, sustainable, party or business development model.

Through planning. There is a concept known as "overtourism" or mass tourism. This phenomenon saturates destinations, so it is important to understand the carrying capacity of the destination so as not to exceed it. What is a little more difficult and dangerous is gentrification, which, although it is blamed on tourism, is not a tourism problem, but an immigration problem. I believe that this can also be fought by planning and being very clear about where, how and how many tourists I want. It is necessary to know how to control it, because once the sector begins to have these negative effects, the consequence is a hostile community with the tourist visit. No one will smile at the tourist because no one wants him, because the tourist displaces me and does not let me enjoy my own city, so you have to plan properly and not exceed the limits.

ANGIE RODRÍGUEZ - REDACCIÓN VIAJAR