What is ecotourism? Ecotourism is the travel to areas of natural resources to better understand the ecosystem, culture, and history. Costa Rica is the leading country in Latin America for ecotourism. This is because they are able to use their resources to their advantage. Not only do they have beautiful beaches, but they also have active volcanoes, rain forests, and wildlife.
Tourism brings approximately one million visitors to the country and about one billion in revenue. With that being said, almost 50% of all visitors are from the United States. Why are Americans attracted to Costa Rica. Well, a few reasons are biodiversity, location, safety & stability, and higher standard of living, just to name a few. Biodiversity is a term that refers to the incredible range of environments. Costa Rica offers volcanoes, mountains, beaches, and rainforests all in a country the size of West Virginia. Location is key. Costa Rica's proximity compared to America gives it a huge advantage over many eastern countries. Even though Costa Rica doesn't have an army, it is still a relatively safe environment because no one is attacking the country. Also, the low crime rates are a major persuasive point for tourists. The final point was higher standard of living which is another selling point for tourists. Since, Costa Rica aboilshed it's military it has been able to devote more money to higher education. As a result, Costa Rica has one of the highest literacy rates in Latin America.
Many benefits can occur becauce of ecotourism. The first is that it can provide financial rewards to the parks. Some of the income brought in from the tourists can go directly back to them to help building up the park. Another, benefit is that it would promote private conservation efforts which would open up more jobs and therefore allowing the economy & GDP to grow. The final benefit is that for the most part it is economically friendly. A major point to take away is that ecotourism took the place of different industries that could have been far more harming to the environment such as polluting factories.
On the other hand, you must look at the negatives that are involved with ecotourism. One of the major costs is that it creates visitor overcapacity. This can be a problem because the tourists can harm the surrounding environments such as the plants and animals. The second major negative that you must look at is the issue of profit versus protection. If the parks become to consumed in profit and forget their responsibily to protect the wildlife it could be costly. A possible reason that this could occur is that the park isn't receiving enough funding or has poor management.
Information from: http://www.american.edu/TED/costa-rica-tourism.htm
It is very exciting that I was actually apart of Costa Rica's ecotourism today!!! We visited Cafe Britt coffee plantation. It was different than visiting Del Cafe Tal because it wasn't a family owned organization. Cafe Britt treated us just like tourists. As shown in the pictures above we had tour guides directing us through the plantation. In the second picture, we were shown how the harvestors pick the berries of the plants and then place them into the bucket around their waste. In the third picture, we were shown what a coffee bean looks like and how to recognize a "good" one. If the berry is still green, then it isn't ready. However, if the berry is red, then it is considered a "good" one. Finally, if the berry is black, then it has died and has no value. In the fourth picture, the tour guide is showing us how the bean are prepared and then packaged to be shipped around the world. The final picture examplifies the tourism aspect of the day. The guides started by showing us how to prepare a cup of coffee followed by a short skit of the history of coffee. Overall, it was a wonderful experience.
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