One of the world’s most beautiful countries is Costa Rica. A haven of intense natural wealth, the country works hard to protect its environment and cultural heritage through promotion of Costa Rica ecotourism. Its tourism board has developed the Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) evaluation and grading system to visitors can see how well specific tourism companies are performing in this effort.
Basically, ecotourism is considered sustainable tourism, which seeks to bring tourists to an area in ways that are protective of the local cultural and natural environments. Sustainable tourism’s goal is to create a tourism that benefits both visitors and the local communities. The benefits are measured by local economic benefit and respect for local traditions.
The CST measures five areas when assessing whether a tour company operates in a sustainable way. For example, lodgings are judged in part on whether they address issues such as water and energy conservation, waste management, and building materials. Tour operators are judged in part on how cultural consistent their tours are with actual local traditions.
Any kind of tour company is also graded for its effect on the physical environment, how much economic development it brings into the local communities it goes, and what kinds of opportunities it gives the tourists to participate in the community’s development.