Costa Rican Hotels Blog | Your Gateway to a Costa Rican Experience

Costa Rica’s main attraction lies in its favorable geographical location in the tropics as well as in its flora and fauna.  Costa Ricans know that and have sought out to protect its surrounding nature by implementing strict guidelines and rules within the tourism industry.

So when a hotel or lodge is distinguished for being an Eco property, it is telling its guests that they are taking all the necessary precautions and actions in causing the least amount of impact on the environment.

An Eco property is built in harmony with its surroundings and follows eco-friendly practices such as proper treatment of solid and liquid disposals as well as precise energy usage in order to avoid unnecessary waste.

In addition to promoting renewable sources, eco-friendly companies also guarantee a positive community support by including sustainable development projects.  Community members and local residents are involved in the creating of new conservation projects and are encouraged to start their own businesses thanks to the tourist arrivals.

Practices followed by these hotels include solar powered or gas heated plants, energy conservation by using renewable sources, sustainable chemical, water and recycling usage and volunteer reforestation programs to name a few.

Eco hotels and lodges are commonly found throughout Costa Rica.  The most common places to have these modern yet environmentally conscious hotels are the along secluded beach and mountain regions.  Bahia Drake and Dominical along the South Pacific Coast and Osa Peninsula have witnessed a recent increase in eco-friendly hotels due to its unspoiled beaches and rich marine wildlife.

The Caribbean coast as well as the North Pacific also offer a number of eco-friendly hotels and lodges for all nature lovers and tourists in general.

During the IX Central American and Dominican Republic Tourism Integration and Development Forum being held in Panama, members of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) and of the Central American Integration System (SICA) requested that the region’s political leaders and institutions help in the tourism integration process.

According to the Parliament’s president, an integrated tourism policy is in urgent need in order to assure a strong sustainable tourism development which will benefit the local communities.

The Parliament’s president, Joel Lescano, also mentioned that the industry must follow a guide of responsible tourism practices in order to assure a strong future.  Lescano mentioned that the tourism development had to observe environmentally safe measures and focus on friendly and respectful practices.

The integration would include all seven countries of the region which are Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.  The Central American region’s strength within the tourism industry lies in its nature and culture.

Attractions such as the region’s colonial towns, archeological sites, the Panama Canal, the Arenal Volcano as well as the second longest reef in the Caribbean Coast all make up the entire area’s tourism assets.

Tourism in the Central American region is mainly recreational and is primarily visited by North Americans and Europeans.

The Costa Rican Tourist Board (ICT) has requested government authorities’ permission to increase next year’s marketing budget by $6 million for a total of $20 million.

For 2008, the ICT had access to its largest marketing budget in history by investing $14 million in a strong international campaign which included the U.S, Canada and Europe.  For 2009, the Minister of Tourism Carlos Ricardo Benavides wants to have access to the board’s surplus funds from previous budgets that for several reasons were not used.

The ICT plans to invest a considerable amount of the requested budget in the printed press.  The ICT targets magazines and websites that specialize in travel.  Among well renowned magazines and organizations, Costa Rica will be promoted in the National Geographic magazine as well as with the Smithsonian and Condé Nast Traveller.

Other measures that the ICT will take are the promotion and elaboration of campaigns and collaborations with airlines and tour operators in the North America and Europe.  The ICT will study the market in order to determine which regions they will need to intensify the promotion of Costa Rica as a tourist destination in order to increase the overall influx.

Currently, a 54% of tourists come from the United States specifically from California, New York, Texas and Florida.  European tourists represent a 17% of the overall tourist influx and the countries of origin are mainly Germany, Italy, Spain and France.

The ICT has announced that although the U.S is its strongest market, they will seek to strengthen their promotion in Europe.