Well we have certainly been through our share of tourist activities on this trip and I have loved them all. It seems like everyday things just get better and better. We have seen the rainforest, a cloud forest, volcanoes, waterfalls, giant bugs, and some pretty sweet animals. I have even seen Catydids which is a giant green bug and for some reason is one of my sorority mascots. We have also rafted, zip lined, hiked, snorkeled, and survived some awful roads full of crazy Tico drivers. I think we have done just about everything a tourist in Costa Rica could ever want to do and more.
Tourism has recently become the number one industry in Costa Rica which is understandable because there is just so much fun stuff to see and do in this country. Costa Rica can certainly offer an adventurous vacation to anyone who is up for physical activities and wants to have a great time. I honestly feel like I have done so many things here that I have always wanted to do but might not have ever had the chance to actually do. Thanks to the booming tourism industry, I have been having a great time in Costa Rica.
The big characteristic that Costa Rica has to draw in tourists that most other countries do not, is the sector of ecotourism. Tourism in places like Europe or the United States it a lot about sight-seeing. If I was in Europe for the summer I would be seeing famous buildings, and paintings, and stuff like that which is cool, but does not really compare to the types of things a place like Costa Rica can offer. Tourists visit places like CR because they are tropical and exotic. That tropical climate and those beatiful landscapes are all about the environment. Coming from Ohio, I wanted to see cool animals, beautiful plants, and goregous beaches. Everything I wanted to see in Costa Rica comes just because of the land itself and it's tropical environment. Tourists do not just want to see buildings and art while on vacation, they want to see nature at its best which is easily done in CR. Pick up any tour guide to Costa Rica and you will find that nearly all of the advertisements relate to ecotourism. Most of the tourist activities we have done on this trip are centered around the environment. We have hiked in the rainforest and zipped through clouds. You can do things here that you simply can not do in most other regions around the world. I could not travel to Europe to climb a volcano or walk through a rainforest full of monkeys. The environment of CR offers a variety of amazing adventures and smart business people are jumping into the ecotourism industry to capitilize on what nature has provided.
According in Wikipedia, Costa Rica is the most visited Central American country with nearly 2 million visitors in 2007. The tourism industry brings in almost $2 billion dollars annually which beats coffee and bananas combined. I knew that tourism has become the highest earning industry in Costa Rica but I never would have guessed that it would beat out both coffee and bananas together. Costa Rica is a pretty close vacation destination for the United States which would explain why over half of CR's visitors come from the U.S. Tourists from the Americas can reach an amazing country without flying all day and night which sounds like a good idea to me. I want to see other countries, but the shorter the flight the better. For all the reasons stated above, eco-tourism is a huge draw to foriegn tourists. Realizing this, the Costa Rican govnerment has taken steps to perserve their country. Over 25% of the land has been set aside as National Parks or protected in other ways. CR has also stated that they want to become the first carbon neutral company and hope to do so by 2021. Everything that Costa Rica is doing to save their environment and promote eco-tourism is certainly working because they have been named the number one country in Latin America using the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index.
Although I am a little bias since I have not been to any other Latin American countries, I would say that Costa Rica has well-earned their spot at number one.
No comments:
Post a Comment