Projects > Osa Research Study

In August 2010, The Center for Responsible Travel (CREST) will undertake the first systematic assessment of the impacts of small-scale ecotourism in the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica.

The Goal

The Osa Peninsula, with 50% of all species found in Costa Rica, is considered the country’s last wilderness frontier and one of the most important biodiversity hotspots left on earth. It is also the only remaining region along the Pacific coast where ecotourism, catering to both the domestic and international market, is still the predominant tourism model.

But the region is now poised to open up to large-scale resort and vacation home development, dominated by foreign investors, owners, and managers; catering to an upscale international market; and supported by a new international airport, and other infrastructure. To date, government and private sector expansion plans have been made without a solid understanding of the Osa’s ecotourism model or the likely impacts of large-scale, conventional tourism developments to both local livelihoods and biodiversity conservation in this region.

The Project Team

CREST staff will travel to Costa Rica with four Stanford University students, teaming up with local NGO Fundacion Corcovado, and student project volunteers from the local University of Golfito. Together with guidance from Estado de la Nacion (a well respected Costa Rican research institute), the team will carry out this project in order to fill the critical gap in knowledge about the economic, environmental, and social impacts of ecotourism and local and visitor perceptions of both ecotourism and the proposed mass tourism projects.

The Need

This study comes at a crucial time. There is growing concern over plans for large scale tourism development in and around the Osa Peninsula. In addition, the economic recession and temporary halt to most new tourism projects offers an opportunity to assess what types of tourism are appropriate in the Osa. A new Costa Rican government has taken office in May 2010 under Laura Chinchilla Miranda, who has signaled her support for Costa Rica’s ecotourism model and her concerns about the uncontrolled growth of large tourism and vacation home developments along the Pacific coast north of the Osa.

Methodology

The methodology includes field surveys and interviews with tourists, local residents, and a range of other stakeholders, and an analytical study of the people and practices of six hotels and ecolodges. This project draws upon the body of relevant research already conducted by CREST and the Estado de la Nacion, including our recently released two-year CREST study of mass tourism along the Pacific coast. The Osa study will include a set of policy recommendations and will be assisted by Advisory Committee of Costa Rican experts. The target audiences in Costa Rica will be government officials at the national and municipal levels and in the Legislative Assembly; NGOs working in the Osa Peninsula; associations for tourism, real estate, architecture, and construction; tourism businesses; parks officials; academics working in tourism or related fields; and the media. Because coastal resort tourism is closely tied to the North American market, CREST also plans to disseminate the findings to the media, tourism associations, and development agencies in Washington, DC. In addition, the findings will be distributed to other countries facing similar large-scale coastal development, particularly Mexico, Belize, Panama, and Nicaragua. They will be circulated via the Internet, available electronically, presented at press briefings, tourism conferences, and other public forums as well as via briefings to key government and private sector officials.