page_title: Ecotourism in Costa Rica
section_title: Costs
hierarchical_section_title: Ecotourism in Costa Rica / Effects on the economy / Costs
caption_attribution_description: Suspension bridge in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, 23 January 2004.
context_page_description: Ecotourism in Costa Rica is one of the key activities of the tourism industry in the country. By the early 1990s, Costa Rica became known as the poster child of ecotourism. The country is among many developing nations that look to ecotourism as a way of cashing in on the growing demand for this popular trend of travel.
  Ecotourism draws many tourists to visit the extensive national parks and protected areas around the country. Costa Rica was a pioneer in this type of tourism, and the country is recognized as one of the few with true ecotourism. While Costa Rica has gained immense popularity for its development of a successful, yet environmentally friendly, ecotourism industry, environmentalists and economists alike debate whether an economy centered on tourism produces more good than harm.
context_section_description: Ecotourism can be source of generating economic development at a local level; however, quite often, it has also resulted in the disruption of local economic activities. As history has shown, ecotourism has not only disrupted local economic activity, but oftentimes, the economic benefits of ecotourism in a particular area do not accrue to the local community. Instead of locals being compensated for switching to professions in the tourism industry, they oftentimes receive jobs that are low paying (although better paying than farming) and limited in their potential for upward mobility as managerial positions go to foreigners or urban-educated elites.
  Profit leakage and exploitation are other possible factors that could affect the economic viability of Costa Rica tremendously in the future. Many developing nations do not have the resources to construct the infrastructure necessary for tourism development, which leads them to turn to foreign corporations and international donors (Hicks, 2001). The widespread involvement of foreign investors can lead to a leakage problem in which the profits earned by the tourism sector do not stay in the country (Hicks, 2001). This case has been seen to unfold in Costa Rica, where investment is low but new infrastructure is needed, leaving the government no other choice but to resort to foreign aid.
caption: Canopy walkway in the cloud forest in Santa Elena, Costa Rica
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