Rural Tourism - Real Costa Rica

Costa Rica has benefited and suffered from what has been referred to as the “tourism boom”. Yes, there are people making money and economic wealth happening that would have never been possible if tourism did not have its boom here. But anytime you have fast economic growth you always take the risk of losing tradition, culture, and the realness of people and places. I will explain what I mean.

When I say you might lose the realness of people and places I am talking about visiting a waterfall tucked away in the jungle but the superficial additions that have been built around it looks like something from Disney World. It is a bit more “real” of an experience if you hike to the waterfall and get a little mud on your feet. The manmade additions do come in handy in some cases but if everyone in the country took this idea, which if the money keeps coming in and the attractions keep building, then one day we will completely lose the authenticity of the “real” Costa Rica.

This can also be felt with people. We all know winning the lottery can change your day to day life and can also change how you behave and how people see you. I am aware that not all people handle wealth the same way. But for many Costa Ricans who had nothing before and in the last 10 years have traded beautiful pieces of land filled with rainforest to buy a sportscar then I cannot help but say to myself that a real Costa Rican was just lost. Dealing with a number of tourist each year one of the more common comments I hear is look at so many of the locals, they really don’t have that much, and they are still smiling. In our opinion this is the “real” Costa Rica and we hope we never lose that attraction to our tour.

The “real” tico is outgoing, extremely friendly, helpful, and just amazing to be around. Along with mother nature the “real” tico is Costa Rica’s most valuable species and also most vulnerable. So our opinion is that our tourists can come down and make the comment that “ticos” are so happy with so little, but until our tourists return home and decide to live the similar way then future generations will not be saved from this competition of money and greed that we see now.

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