| Since 1990 Ecotourism has been growing, on average, 25-30% per year worldwide. This is especially important for developing countries where tourism is the major foreign exchange earner. Tourism is Costa Rica's largest industry, earning the country 1.9 billion dollars per year. To maintain this industry in a sustainable way, Costa Rica has adopted a certification process to rate hotels and tour operators called the Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST.) This program looks at four main criteria: physical and biological parameters, infrastructure and services, external clients and the socio-economic environment to accurately assess the sustainability in Costa Rica. One of the most biologically diverse and frequently visited destinations in Costa Rica is the Monteverde Zone. Since the very survival of this area is dependent on how well it is being preserved, Monteverde is an important case study. This paper looks at the three aspects of new conservation: (i) empowerment, (ii) participation, and (iii) sustainability to measure the success of the CST program at three hotels in the Monteverde Zone, Costa Rica. |
