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Sustainable Tourism Program (CST)

As a destination that offers visitors a chance to experience the beauty of the Earth and its people, Costa Rica began to see a growth in its tourism industry. In order to mitigate the negative effects of tourism development in the country, Costa Rica quickly took action and in 1996 it established the Certification for Sustainable Tourism Program (CST) which outlines four main pillars for developing a property or operation that would reduce the impact that it would on the environment, its population and its culture as well.

Over the past year, Costa Rica, as a country, and its tourism sector alike, have received an unprecedented amount of recognition for its staggering achievements at the environmental and social level. Organizations like the World Economic Index Forum and the Environmental Performance Indicator developed by Yale University and Columbia University have ranked Costa Rica as the best place to do business and the cleanest destination in the Americas, respectively.  Additionally, for the first time ever, the Natural Resources Defense Council honored an entire country with its Natural Biogem Award for its commitment to protecting the more than the 500,000 species of flora and fauna that call Costa Rica their home.

The CST program has not only been well received by the industry, with over 100 hotels and tour operators certified, but it has also been regarded by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as the model for sustainable tourism in Latin America. Additionally, the CST program was recognized by the III Virtual Congress on Latin American Tourism Industry and Destination Competitiveness with the “Tourism for All” award in the category of “Innovation in Tourism and Hotels.”

All of these efforts have positioned its tourism industry as one of the most sustainable in the world and it has no shortage of awards either. In the past year alone, establishments such as Green Hotels of Costa Rica, Lapa Rios Ecolodge, Rios Tropicales, Hotel Punta Islita, El Silencio Lodge, Nature Air, among many others, have been recipients of sustainable tourism awards and recognitions from prestigious organizations such as National Geographic, Conde Nast Traveler, Rainforest Alliance and the World Travel and Tourism Council. Furthermore, Ethical Traveler named the country as one of its choices for Top 10 Ethical Destinations for the industry’s strong environmental efforts.

Costa Rica has always understood the importance of being able to be innovative and evolve its strategy in order to provide sustainable solutions for an ever-changing world. With a successful certification program under its belt, Costa Rica declared a goal to be carbon neutral by 2021, a goal that has been embraced by all and in two short years has begun to generate an astounding amount of critical acclaim throughout its tourism industry.

Nature Air, Costa Rica’s premier airline, with the help of Costa Rica’s National Financial Fund for Reforestation (FONAFIFO) and its Certification for Environmental Service program, has become the leader in the effort to moving the country towards it carbon neutral goal. Nature Air declared itself the first certified carbon neutral airline in 2004 and in a short amount of time began to receive recognition for its environmental and its social program, Nature Kids, which is dedicated to educating children in Costa Rica. This year Nature Air received the Tourism for Tomorrow Award from the World Travel and Tourism Council and in 2008 it was awarded the Top Sustainable Award from the Rainforest Alliance, both for its unparalleled commitment to changing the face of the transportation industry.

The key to happiness, as Costa Rica has proven, isn’t necessarily limited to the act of consuming less. Rather, it is the philosophy that when people take the time to take care of and appreciate the things around them that aren’t replaceable, such as the environment, their people and their culture, then they begin to create a society that finds happiness in the simple things that the world has to offer.