Eco-Tourism 2

So i have been in Costa Rica for a almost two weeks now and i have truely noticed how much toursim is a part of this country. It is everywhere. Even in downtown San Jose there is a market that seems to be designed for tourists. I would never expect to see a local go down there and buy an Imperial tee shirt or a shot glass with Costa Rica painted on the side. You cannot go 5 min. without seeing a bus drive buy with a tourismo sticker on the back.

In this blog i am going to talk about some of the benifits that eco-tourism has on the country as a whole. In 1963, laws were passed which created about 70 national parks which covered 21% of the countrys landscape. So far on my trips, guides have explained that around 30% of Costa Ricas land is currently untouched and remains preserved by law. This would never have happened it if were not for the growing trend of eco-tourism in the country. Farmers have given up their past jobs which envolved clearcutting land for cattle, and replaced them with tourism related jobs. If you think about it, there are houndreds of diffrent jobs that go along with toursim. Jobs include things such as bus drivers, souvenir shops, guides etc. Toursim opened many doors for employment options all across the country. Thanks to eco-toursim, these lush forests and lands are protected aposed to being cleared. This has payed off in medical research and sustainable food products. Without the revenue generated by this industry the land would have been lost to logging and farming years back. Ecotoursim also effects the people who are paying to see the forests and exotic beachs. When they leave they have this sense of a perfect untouched lanscape that is quickly vanishing in the world today. This makes them want to preserve areas like this through donations, groups, votes, and other support options. Ecotoursim is responsible for creating and maintaining many conservation groups around the world. One of the largest benifits of eco-tourism is that it brings large sums of money into Costa Rica without the use of factories and negitive companies that tend to harm growing nations. It truely brings an a source of income that does not cost anything to nature and leaves behind an untouched landscape. Instead of building highrise hotels and highways, ecotourism creates small wood lodges and dirt trails that people from all over the world pay big money to stay in. Ecotoursim also creates a diversification of industry to the nation of Costa Rica. The country does not need to primarly focus on agriculture of bananas and coffee, they also have tourism as a large economic backbone of the country.