Community Tourism On The Rise
By Mara Flórez-Estrada,
Latinamericapress.com
Some travelers opt to work on
sustainable development projects
in rural areas, instead of
hitting the sand and surf.
A new tourism model is taking
off in Costa Rica, but the
beneficiaries are not hotels and
resorts. Community tourism, for
which tourists stay with
families in rural parts of the
country, working on sustainable
development projects, has gained
increasing popularity in recent
years.
In this small country of 4.3
million people, tourism is the
most important industry,
bringing in an average of 1.6
million visitors each year.
Tourism generates US$1.6 billion
for the nation.
But as it was evident with the
fifth Rural Community Tourism
Fair in San José late last year,
this new kind of travel is now
an important option for the
country, a true alternative to
more mainstream tourism that
includes major tourist sites and
little contact with local
communities.
The government-run Costa Rican
Tourism Institute, or ICT, has
recognized this new form of
tourism in addition to the
country's already famed circuits
of beaches and cloud forest.
According to the ICT, at least
1,500 Costa Rican families and
70 communities have been
involved in community tourism
initiatives since 2005, and 12.5
percent of visitors to Costa
Rica have opted for the
experience during their stay.
Learning with locals
The options for travelers
looking for rural tourism
include a mix of tourist
activities and an education
about local life. Tourists can
stay with campesina families and
participate in their daily
chores, such as milking cows,
trout and tilapia fishing in
local rivers and lakes, cooking,
producing fertilizer, as well as
take hikes and riding horses
with views of the country's
spectacular volcanoes.
The initiative "Vacations with
Campesina Families", which is
run in the northern part of the
country, near the slopes of the
active Arenal volcano, whose
dramatic lava flows can be seen
at night, includes volunteer
work. Activities include
painting schools or churches,
trail maintenance in the nature
reserves, and other assistance
to farming families.
Guests pay approximately $150
per week to cover lodging, food,
transportation and a monetary
donation to the community. Many
visitors can also take Spanish
classes.
In a country whose female
unemployment is double that of
men - 8.7 percent compared to
4.4 percent for men in 2006 -
rural tourism has become an
important source of employment
for women.
Members of the Santa Fe de
Guatuso Women's Group, also in
northern Costa Rica, participate
in activities such as rodeos,
and lead boat rides, tours to
the Celeste River falls, hikes
in the forest surrounding the
Tenorio volcano, reforestation
projects, women's baseball
leagues, among others.
According to the Alliance for
the Strengthening of Rural
Community Tourism, the sector is
"one of these initiatives that,
little by little, are becoming
an important development tool
for those rural communities that
have the potential and ability
to compete with other
high-quality attractions."
Unlike the large hotels that are
mostly financed with foreign
capital, rural community tourism
is highly beneficial to the
local communities since the
money generated is almost
completely reinvested in the
area, so direct that in some
cases it contributes to
community members income.
But Laura Chinchilla, director
of the environmental program
Green Era, which is aired by the
University of Costa Rica's
television station, says that
even though the ICT has decided
to include the program in its
development plan, the country
lacks a cohesive public policy
to promote it.
Rural community tourism "is
being developed even though
there aren't any clear state
policies, as the ICT is only
really promoting large-scale
megatourism," she said. "The
initiatives there are in the
communities receive some support
from nongovernmental
organizations, but they
themselves put into the most
effort."
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