ECOCLUB Blogs™
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Costa Rica approaches Tourism in the midst of the Pandemic
Costa Rica tourism industry, like in many other countries, has been impacted by the health measurements taken by the COVID-19. The country has been one of the few Latin American countries that had closed borders to international arrivals from the very beginning of the pandemic. This has had a great benefit for the citizens and resident's health since the situation has been in good control, however, it has also had a big impact on the local economy.
With the country´s public health restrictions, for almost 4 months the parks and tourist attractions have been shut down. Recently, the government has released a plan to re-activate the economy in all its sectors including tourism, the most important national income of Costa Rica. Nevertheless, this plan proposes several stages in a different time span and the success of continuing to the next phases is only, and if the cases of contagion are controlled in the country. Also considering that any of the allowances of these economic activities would not foster a major outbreak in the population, a bigger amount of businesses can be working on a regular basis. Up until now only countries with controlled measurements of COVID-19 are welcomed to Costa Rica until August 2020, these are some examples: Beaches are open every day from 5 a.m. to 9:30 am, most national parks, and many other private reserves are open. Hotels and restaurants can open at 50% capacity, including on the weekends.Incredibly, Costa Rica unlike many other of its neighbors has put public health on a higher pedestal than economic growth. As a foreigner in this country, the government has done a remarkable job to contain the overall good health of the population. In the same vein, the heartwarming fraternalism and solidarity of the Tico´s culture have helped them greatly to supporting each other by consuming their local products and services among their own businesses.
Many tourism stakeholders have taken the pandemic as an opportunity to restore and renovate their facilities, such as Mar a Mar. It is a nonprofit organization that supports local tourism stakeholders along the Camino of Costa Rica, a hiking trail that goes from coast to coast in the country. Mar a Mar has gathered 9000 USD to help the small local businesses along this trail to invest in better conditions of their facilities.
The owners of small lodges or accommodations along the country have been offering their services at lower rates, such as Airbnb owners, or guesthouses owners in the Caribbean region. Other stakeholders of voluntourism are also helping tourists that have stayed in the country due to the uncertainty of flying back home, for instance, Finca agroecológica Sol y Valle, or Finca Agroecológica La Flor in Cartago. This stimulates has been helping small-scale tourism accommodation owners to receive some income instead of shutting all down. Many of the agritourism sectors have found the barter very helpful to continue their activities in a sustainable way. There is more time to learn and work in the land and grow their own food attracts many stranded tourists that are looking for a cheap way to spend the COVID-19 season, such as Rancho Mastatal and other education and tourism centers.
While the government has implemented the necessary protocols to control the spread of the virus in the country, tourism in the country has turned their attention to the domestic tourism importance and the unique solidarity that the culture brings is one of the main engines that have kept the tourism industry afloat.
Many tourism stakeholders have taken the pandemic as an opportunity to restore and renovate their facilities, such as Mar a Mar. It is a nonprofit organization that supports local tourism stakeholders along the Camino of Costa Rica, a hiking trail that goes from coast to coast in the country. Mar a Mar has gathered 9000 USD to help the small local businesses along this trail to invest in better conditions of their facilities.
The owners of small lodges or accommodations along the country have been offering their services at lower rates, such as Airbnb owners, or guesthouses owners in the Caribbean region. Other stakeholders of voluntourism are also helping tourists that have stayed in the country due to the uncertainty of flying back home, for instance, Finca agroecológica Sol y Valle, or Finca Agroecológica La Flor in Cartago. This stimulates has been helping small-scale tourism accommodation owners to receive some income instead of shutting all down. Many of the agritourism sectors have found the barter very helpful to continue their activities in a sustainable way. There is more time to learn and work in the land and grow their own food attracts many stranded tourists that are looking for a cheap way to spend the COVID-19 season, such as Rancho Mastatal and other education and tourism centers.
While the government has implemented the necessary protocols to control the spread of the virus in the country, tourism in the country has turned their attention to the domestic tourism importance and the unique solidarity that the culture brings is one of the main engines that have kept the tourism industry afloat.
