SUSTAINABLE ECOTOURISM IMPACT IN COSTA RICA 11 HRTM 6200 Tourism Destination Management Term Paper Fall 2017 Sustainable Ecotourism and Economic Impact: Costa Rica’s National Parks study Submitting to: Dr. Maloud Shakona Waled Trog Student No. 1729108 Fairleigh Dickenson University Master of Science in Hospitality Management Word Count: 2155 Page Count: 11 December 07, 2017 Abstract How tourism has brought many economics benefits for visitors, locals and governments? Moreover, in destinations where environment is involved, is tourism has become more effective and led to massive economics and environmental changes? Also, low-income people in rural places are reported as characteristics of tourism employment, and they tend to be more cautious than other people to save the environment. Local and service providers as well as visitors are responsible to ensure sustainability in a certain destination. As an example, in Malaysia, the government’s policies are important in developing economies where tourism strategies tend to be controlled directly by governments. However, Costa Rica national parks have big role in the ecotourism industry and locals value such feature, for its advantages. therefore, some sorts of tourism which are agro-ecotourism, and bird- watching are mentioned as one of ecotourism methods that attracts visitors to experience rural culture, and the term “agro-ecotourism” was used for the first time in Costa Rica. The cooperation between governments and organizations is essential for this type of tourism. In some national parks, tourist behave negatively towards the environment, and that is due to the lack in education. Keywords: sustainability, ecotourism, economic Sustainable Ecotourism and Economic Impact: Costa Rica’s National Parks According to Carlos & ESPINOSA (2013), tourism is considered as a method for enhancing the lifestyle of local people in many countries. and it has the ability to create occupations and generate salaries. However, the natural scenes of any destination is a potential element that attracts tourists which will lead to growth in the economy for both residents and governments. Moreover, with taking experience in consideration, tourists tend to prefer visiting places that connected to nature, new culture, and heritage, and that will not only create new source of income to the host communities but also will guarantee a good lifestyle for the future generations (Agüera, 2013). In addition, Blersch & Kangas, (2012) indicated that ecotourism, the green industry, has been known as worldwide phenomenon, which provide relaxation and enjoyable time for visitors in their leisure time, but it may be harmful for both local and the environment of the tourist destination. Ecotourism (Agüera, 2013) could lead to positive and negative impacts and in order to eliminate the destructive impacts to the environment, local stakeholders should be involved, and they must con.

1. SUSTAINABLE ECOTOURISM IMPACT IN COSTA RICA
11
HRTM 6200 Tourism Destination Management
Term Paper
Fall 2017
Sustainable Ecotourism and Economic Impact: Costa Rica’s
National Parks study
Submitting to:
Dr. Maloud Shakona
Waled Trog
Student No. 1729108
Fairleigh Dickenson University
Master of Science in Hospitality Management
Word Count: 2155
Page Count: 11
December 07, 2017
Abstract
How tourism has brought many economics benefits for visitors,
locals and governments? Moreover, in destinations where
environment is involved, is tourism has become more effective
and led to massive economics and environmental changes? Also,
low-income people in rural places are reported as characteristics
of tourism employment, and they tend to be more cautious than

2. other people to save the environment. Local and service
providers as well as visitors are responsible to ensure
sustainability in a certain destination. As an example, in
Malaysia, the government’s policies are important in developing
economies where tourism strategies tend to be controlled
directly by governments. However, Costa Rica national parks
have big role in the ecotourism industry and locals value such
feature, for its advantages. therefore, some sorts of tourism
which are agro-ecotourism, and bird- watching are mentioned as
one of ecotourism methods that attracts visitors to experience
rural culture, and the term “agro-ecotourism” was used for the
first time in Costa Rica. The cooperation between governments
and organizations is essential for this type of tourism. In some
national parks, tourist behave negatively towards the
environment, and that is due to the lack in education.
Keywords: sustainability, ecotourism, economic
Sustainable Ecotourism and Economic Impact: Costa Rica’s
National Parks
According to Carlos & ESPINOSA (2013), tourism is
considered as a method for enhancing the lifestyle of local
people in many countries. and it has the ability to create
occupations and generate salaries. However, the natural scenes
of any destination is a potential element that attracts tourists
which will lead to growth in the economy for both residents and
governments. Moreover, with taking experience in
consideration, tourists tend to prefer visiting places that
connected to nature, new culture, and heritage, and that will not

3. only create new source of income to the host communities but
also will guarantee a good lifestyle for the future generations
(Agüera, 2013). In addition, Blersch & Kangas, (2012)
indicated that ecotourism, the green industry, has been known
as worldwide phenomenon, which provide relaxation and
enjoyable time for visitors in their leisure time, but it may be
harmful for both local and the environment of the tourist
destination.
Ecotourism (Agüera, 2013) could lead to positive and
negative impacts and in order to eliminate the destructive
impacts to the environment, local stakeholders should be
involved, and they must contribute in improving this type of
tourism, which could make the economy thrive and flourish.
However, sustainability in this section of tourism is essential,
which means to protect the environment, understand and respect
the host culture, increase the local’s income, and attract more
tourists to the destination (Cheia, 2013). In growing economy
destinations (Bhuiyan et al., 2011), government contribute and
control travel industry, and workers who are from conventional
economy sections like agriculture, mining and fishing are
possibly to attract tourism, therefore According to Carlos &
Espinosa (2013) The today’s impact of tourism towards
employment is assessed as of 6-7 % of the total amount of both
direct and indirect global jobs, which means over 260 million
occupations are related to travel industry.
literature review
During the last twenty years (Blersch & Kangas, 2012, nature-
tourism has provided protection strategies in the areas where the
environment and residents are harmed from conventional
expansion of tourism. In short, a sustainable ecotourism has
contributed in enhancing the income of local and protect the
environment. Stronza & Gordillo, (2008) added that ecotourism
can be a motivation to the local, who receive good amount
service, to save the natural resources and to protect the positive
changes in the economy. Even thought, there are benefits from
this sort of tourism, some restrictions such as social conflict

4. and environmental harms may appear, and communities should
act positively to stop these limitations. The main function of
ecotourism system, which provide services that attract visitors
to the enjoyable wildlife and reinforce the quality of the nature
sites, is to improve a sustainable lifestyle of both locals and
service providers initiated by Barkin, (2000). Moreover, job
opportunity and income of the country have improved a great
deal because of the tourism, that based on nature, which
considered as one of the largest source of income for countries
(Bhuiyan et al., 2011). Since tourism size, kind and value are
diverse from place to another (Carlos & ESPINOSA, 2013), it is
realistic to consider the merits of tourism labor as a local
advantage, and they are reliant on the indigenous economic and
sociocultural circumstances. However, the characteristic of
tourism employment is defined and formed by specific matters
such as the sort and size of economic expansion, the type of
tourism activity, and the socio-cultural system of local
societies. Consequently, such matter will show how travel
industry leads to job creation and improves lifestyle of locals.
Therefore, tourism labor in countries should be properly
analyzed and involved at local standards for the purpose of
policy inclusion.
According to the “Ecotourism Benefits the,” (2014) over 15%
improvement was found in the lifestyle of Costa Ricans who
already lives close to parks and protected areas, which has
contributed in decreasing the poverty by 16%. Besides the fact
that ecotourism is usually promoted as “moral” tourism, it has
also provided luxury lifestyle to the local people, and protect
the environment. In Redang Island Marine Park (Yacob et al.,
2008), a Malaysia island, the hotel owner, the ecotourism
operators, are directly benefited from this type of tourism,
which leads to job opportunities for local, and the development
of this truism sector will improve the resident’s income. Also,
Carlos & Espinosa, (2013) indicated that travel industry
contributes in increasing foreign exchange earnings and job
creation which will help growing the economy. For example, in

5. Malaysia (Bhuiyan,. et al., 2011), tourism has positive impact
on currency exchange workers which has improved the country
balance payment of over 40% in 2005. In addition, (Björk,
2000). in order to keep sustainable tourism, it is important to
know the understanding of travelers for the ecotourism industry,
and they should be educated to avoid the risk of misconception
and harming across the process of nature-tourism. Furthermore,
(Barkin, 2000) sustainability and development are economically
related to the ecotourism system, which consequently affect the
projects owners. According to (Morales, 2010) ecotourism is
important factor that improves the lifestyle of local and provide
good service to visitors, without harming the environment and
the culture of the tourist destination, so there must be a resilient
policies and plans to ensure the required needs for local and
tourists. (Carlos & Espinosa, 2013) even though the importance
of tourism employment is commonness, it is hardly possible to
figure out the actual volume of tourism that is connected to job
field, and that is because of the complexity in determining the
tourism limits, shortage of formal and dependable statistics, and
propensity to concentrate on jobs that directly related to
tourism. Certainly, the government duty towards ecotourism is
to build a partnership with organizations nationally and
internationally (Bhuiyan et al., 2011), which will help in
creating new strategies that contributes in increasing the
economy of the country.
Barkin,(2000) represented that, the low-income people in rural
places tend to be more cautious than other people to save the
environment, and they participate in protecting and improving
the nature areas; therefore, there should be new techniques to
create job opportunities for farmers and domestic groups, which
will enhance their income. As long as the impacts of travel on
international jobs are definite, numbers related to tourism
should be used wisely, and tourism should be considered as a
method where its contributes and effects on employment are
different from country to another, province to province, and
location to location Carlos & Espinosa, (2013). business owners

6. can contribute in ecotourism, and the authorities can help by
supporting projects that related to the nature scenes which will
promote the tourism and the business running. Additionally,
some destinations tourism may be suitable for addition goals
such as limiting migration. for example, the adoption of tourism
has delivered extra jobs to rustic labors with specific assertion
on the needs of the youth who are the majority of out-migrants.
In fact, the aim and influence of tourism towards employment
are significantly argued and considered as one of the main
reasons that provide jobs worldwide, in developed and
developing countries together (Carlos & ESPINOSA, 2013)
In particular, Costa Rica, a country in central America, is
famous of its tourist’s scene such as rivers, beaches, and parks
which they bring many tourists. moreover, some specific types
of tourism appeared in this destination. for example, agritourist,
agro-ecotourism, and bird- watching are one of them. Moreover,
with applying proper ways in agriculture, farmers can create a
friendly environment projects, which will improve this section
of tourism, and as result of that all the community groups will
receive economic benefits from agricultural practices. Although
Agro-ecotourism, however is known as one of the methods that
helps farmers, in countryside, to increase their income; the
change to the rustic lifestyle is not definite, and the society
understanding towards the relation between tourism agricultural
is changing (Morales, 2010). According to Miller, (2014) the
residents of costa Rica consider their land as a method that
generate their life economically, and they as a farmers and
services providers make good money from serving tourists, who
are attentive on this nature environment. Since Costa Rica
known as developing country, it is considered as one of the
destinations that value ecotourism and protect the environment,
and the relationship between protecting the environment and
facilitating international travel leads to long economic benefits
in the ecotourism industry which as a consequence is going to
make the country to be the first friendly environment place that
reduce the poverty and enhance the lifehood of the locals. Most

7. important, By the beginning of the 20th century, the hotel
industry of costa Rica has significantly increased at a
proportion of 400%, and that was as a result of the nature
attracted areas of the country, but there were some
environmental violence actions that happened in some national
parks.
During the past view years (Chase et al., 1998), the national
parks industry of costa Rica has contributed in a massive
growth in the economy, and many travelers visited the country
which made the country to be the largest source of foreign
exchange earnings. However, as a result of the governmental
flexible policies and regulations towards ecotourism, the
country has reached a high point of the economic growth
(Bhuiyan et al., 2011). Furthermore, rather than having Conflict
with organizations, governments must build healthy relationship
with tourism experts like private groups and business holder to
improve the national and international tourism industry; which
will develop the economy of the country. Clearly, visitors to
national parks specially who are from oversea, always spend
few amounts of money in order to enjoy their trip in protected
areas such as; forests and national parks. However, the earning
from those visitors should be separated and invested wisely in
maintaining the parks, rather than mixing it with other revenues
of the country. Accordingly, with failing the ability to use the
tourism income in a proper way, there will be alternate routes to
use these lands such as cutting trees, farming, and livestock
grazing which as a result, will directly affect both public and
private lands and cause deforestation. (Chase, 1998).
However, as rejecting the conserved zones is common in most
of the countries worldwide (Hance, 2011), a different
perspective from the citizens of costa Rica and Thailand shows
that protected areas great economic benefits and reduce the
poverty in local communities. In addition, since ecosystem
attracts visitors and they will have to spend their money in
surrounding communities, local people including business
providers will get benefited from this type of tourism. Also, it

8. is estimated that due to its eco special activities Cost Rica is
considered as one of the biggest destinations in the world that
provide natural scenes for visitors, and huge number of
international tourist visit this fabulous country. Equally, some
factors such as excellent national parks, a stable democratic
government, a pleasant climate, and friendly people contributed
in creating sustainable ecotourism system in Costa Rica.
conclusion
In today’s world, ecotourism, the nature base tourism, has led to
a grow in the economy of countries in many aspects such as
foreign exchange earnings as well as enhancing the lifestyle for
locals and create job opportunities for them. Moreover, it is
governments responsibility to establish policies and regulations
that guarantees and provide good qualities of services to
tourists and to increase the income of host communities.
Additionally, it is essential for those (governments,
organizations, and individuals) who stand for the environment
and promote nature sites to ensure sustainability in the
ecotourism system as it will generate the economic statues for
both governments and locals. Finally, in order to make the
ecotourism system beneficial for both visitors and hosts,
tourists should respect and understand the host’s cultural
believes and they also need to be educated.

9. References
Stronza & Gordillo.(2008). Community views of ecotourism.
Journal Annals of Tourism Research, 35(2), 448-468.
Carlos, J., & Espinosa, B. (2013). Characterisation of
ecotourism employment in a developing world destination.
GeoJournal of Tourism & Geosites, 11(1), 54-65.
Blersch, D, M., & Kangas, P, C.(2013). A modeling analysis of
the sustainability of ecotourism in Belize. Environment,
Development and Sustainability, 15(1),67–80
Agüera, F, O. (2013). Stakeholder theory as a model for
sustainable development in ecotourism. Turismo y Desarrollo:
Revista de Investigación en Turisme y Desarrollo Local, 6(15).
Morales, F, Z. (2010). Agrotourism and agro-ecotourism in
Costa Rica.
E-Review of Tourism Research, 8(6), 196-210.
Chase, L, C.(1998), Ecotourism demand and differential pricing
of national park Access in Costa Rica. Land Economics,74(4),
466-482.
Miller, A, P. (2014). Ecotourism development in Costa Rica.
New York, NY: Lexington Books.
Barkin, D. (2000). Eco-Tourism: A tool for sustainable
development. Journal Ilmiah Pariwisata, 4(3), 75-84. Retrived
from http://jurnalpariwisata.com/files/jurnal043/Eco-
Tourism%20-
%20A%20Tool%20For%20Sustainable%20Development.pdf
Cheia, G. (2013). Ecotourism: Definition and concepts. Revista
de Tourism - Studii si Cercetari in Tourism. (15), 56-60.
Björk, P. (2000). Ecotourism from a conceptual perspective, an
extended definition of a unique tourism form. International
Journal of Tourism Research, 2(3), 189-202.
Almeyda, A, M., et al. (2010). Ecotourism impacts in the
Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica. International Journal of Tourism
Research,12(6), 803-819.

10. Yacob, M, R., Shuib, A., & Radam, A. (2008). How much does
ecotourism development contribute to local communities? An
empirical study in a small island. The Icfai Journal of
Environmental Economics, 6(2), 54-67.
Bhuiyan, A, H., et al. (2011). The role of government for
ecotourism development: Focusing on east Coast Economic
region. Journal of Social Sciences,7(4), 557-564.
Ecotourism benefits the Costa Rican economy by 16%. (2014,
March 3). Retrieved from
https://thecostaricanews.com/ecotourism-benefits-the-costa-
rican-economy-by-16/
Hance, J. (2011, June 12). Environment versus economy: local
communities find economic benefits from living next to
conservation areas. Monogabay news & inspiration from
nature's frontline. Retrieved from
https://news.mongabay.com/2011/06/environment-versus-
economy-local-communities-find-economic-benefits-from-
living-next-to-conservation-areas/
Waled Trog
Student No. 1729108