Case Study: Eco-Adventure in Costa Rica

Question 1

Benefits of eco-holidays (3)

Answer 1

Improves the economy
Creates employment opportunities
Reinvestment of profits gained into education and healthcare

Question 2

Issues accompanying eco-adventure holidays (7)

Answer 2

Unrestricted development
Increased pollution 
Visitor overcapacity
Ecosystem decline
Greenwashing
Profits that are made are taken out of the country
Dependence on tourism

Question 3

Unrestricted development (2)

Answer 3

+ especially along the Pacific coastline

+ strict rules are introduced by the government but are often ignored due to bribery from foreign companies

Question 4

Pollution (3)

Answer 4

+ vehicles (e.g. planes, cars, etc,..) carrying tourists add to air and noise pollution
+ unrestricted building contributes to visual pollution
+ rubbish is piling up in the streets of the popular Pacific resort of Samara without a solution for waste disposal

Question 5

Visitor capacity

Answer 5

Manuel Antonio, one of the country’s most popular national parks, receives an average of 1000 visitors a day

Question 6

Ecosystem decline (2)

Answer 6

People feeding animals in the Manuel Antonio has resulted in monkeys preferring to find food in waste bins rather than in the forest

Question 7

Greenwashing (1)

Answer 7

E.g. a hotel uses biodegradable soaps and adopts solar heating => attain an eco-tourism label despite having other practices that cause harm to the environment

Question 8

Profits taken out of the country (2)

Answer 8

• 75% of tour agencies and small hotels are owned by Costa Ricans, but a sizable proportion of the largest companies are owned by foreigners => profits made are taken out of the country
• Local population working in the tourism trade may be exploited in low-paid work, especially in areas where there are few job opportunities

Question 9

Facts and figure (2)

Answer 9

• 2 million visitor annually

- USD $2.14 billion in revenue in 2008–> second largest source of income

Question 10

Reasons for growth in popularity (6)

Answer 10

Biodiversity: 24 national parks, 21% of its territory
Location: proximity to United States (49% of total foreign visitors)
Safety and stability: distinguished from the rest of Central America
Strong environmental awareness: green industry is influential
High living standard: gdp $6,700, life expectancy 79, literacy rate 95%
International support: IMF, World Bank ($40m loan) , US

Question 11

Environmental benefits (3)

Answer 11

• Alternative to environmentally damaging industries
• Encourages individual conversation efforts
• Encourages small scale infrastrucure construction (Lapa Rios Resort removed only 1 tree to complete a resort with main lodge and 14 bungalows)

Question 12

Environmental costs (5)

Answer 12

• Visitor overcapacity: increased 6% annually
• Greenwashing (certification of sustainable tourism sometimes is undeserving)
• Profit vs Protection
• Inadequate enforcement
• Reliance on International Donors (1992- only 23% of Costa Rica’s budget was government supplied)

Question 13

Economic benefits (6)

Answer 13

75% of tours and 85% of hotels are Costa Rican owned
Revenue 1.1billion dollar
- Benefit to other industries: Tourists consume 22m cup of coffee a year -> brings $16.5m dollars
- Flight incrazed into San Jose’s international airport, bus ride to parks….
- Transfer of incomes: ecotourists willing to pay higher to ensure it’s donation to consevation efforts ($118 to Costa Rica’s Monteverde Cloud Forest)
- Diversification: previously depended on a few agricultural products coffee banaanas meat sugar 65% of exports

Question 14

Economic costs (3)

Answer 14

Leakage: Papagayo Project is the largest complex in the nation but is financed by foreign investors
Exploitation of local workforce: 7% foreign workforce reveice 23% of wages
Instability: sudden political instability, rising crime rates, threats of global recession