On the Trouble With Tourism in Costa Rica

Before I start this, I want to give you, sort of as a preface, a quote which I borrowed from my good friend Polly's blog, who is a Jesuit Volunteer in Belize for two years:

"I do not forget that my voice is but one voice, my experience a mere drop in the sea, my knowledge no greater than the visual field in a microscope, my mind's eye a mirror that reflects a small corner of the world" -CG Jung

And on we go.

I know what you're thinking - the words 'trouble', 'tourism' and 'costa rica' should not be in the same sentence. It is after all the country's number one industry bringing in nearly a half a million tourists annually, 60% of them being Americans (travel.state.gov). However if you look at the very definition of tourism it is to travel to a destination other than one's home….typically to know another place.

I recently got a taste of this when a friend came to visit from the states. With the public city buses being full, our only option to get to our destination that day, five hours North, was a private tour bus company for 35 dollars (over the public, seven-dollar bus ride). A bit hesitant to do so on a Peace Corps budget, I bit the bullet this one time and we headed north in style.

We boarded the small, air-conditioned bus with about five couples heading to various destinations such as the beaches and rain forests - the popular and typical tourist destinations of Costa Rica. After talking with some of the couples and hearing their plans for the rest of the trip, I realized that although they were traveling the country and seeing a large portion of it, they were in fact, not actually seeing the country at all! Being whisked from one destination to another on an air-conditioned bus, staying at a hotel (many of which are all-inclusive) and only doing the activities targeted at tourists (ziplining, bungee jumping, guided tours, etc), in fact, only gave these people a tiny, tiny, taste of the country. (And please forgive me, for I am not speaking of all tourists, just a large portion of them, and yes, I too am guilty of taking part in these 'tourist-only' activities at one point).

When you're in India, for example, you see it all. You see the face of poverty and injustice everywhere - it's in the chidren's eyes who are living near the train tracks, it's in the ever-apparent slums that surround every city, it's in the water, it's in the beggars' faces and wrinkled, dirt-stained hands and feet, it's in the pollution, it's in the hunger, its in the cripples who approach your car at every traffic light, begging, void of any pride and self-dignity. In India you can't avoid it. India is transparent; it shows you its true face the second you leave the airport. Costa Rica, however is different. Costa Rica is a closed book. It takes longer to get to know, you have to read further into its pages to understand it. Leaving the airport one might feel like they haven't left the States and have landed in Southern California. Sights like Denny's, Holiday Inn, and every fast food chain make one wonder if while they were sleeping, the plane took a wrong turn.

In a way, after having lived in this country for over a year now, it made me slightly angry meeting those tourists on the bus that day. These people go back to the States, looking upon their travels fondly, raving about how beautiful Costa Rica is, how pristine it is, how green it is, how friendly everyone is, how not-poor it is. But they haven't seen what I've seen. THey haven't seen the face of poverty, injustice, inequality, and corruption on which this country rests, nor do they learn it even exists in Costa Rica. How many times have the tourists I've met along the way said to me, "There's Peace Corps in Costa Rica?" Countless. But it is true, Costa Rica is as much as a developing country as the rest of Latin America.

And I get it, not every one is as fortunate as I am to be a Peace Corps Volunteer, to live in this country in a different way, to truly get to know its people, it's culture, its foods, its tendencies, its idiosyncrasies - to bear witness to its authentic side. I feel proud that when my friend came to visit I could give her a true taste of the country - meeting my local pulpería (local store) owner and having lunch with her family, meeting some youth of my town who also happen to be the future of this developing country. Experiencing language barriers, cultural uncertainties, and those uncomfortably, humbling situations that can change one's outlook.

What happened to community-based and responsible tourism where tourists really get to know a culture by spending time with its people, learning from their long-standing traditions of what makes their country unique, being humbled by another's homeland? What happened to sustainable tourism where the influx of the millions of tourists each year see the country in a way that still allows it to maintain and present its culture without being corrupted by all-inclusive resorts, tourist-geared restaurants, activities, etc? What happened to people being mindful that they are entering a place that is someone else's home? What happened to respecting the ways of the culture and be open to 'living in solidarity' with them for their time in country? DId any of this ever even exist? Can tourism be less-invasive and more beneficial to the local community?

Living here has given me a different view on tourism. I used to think it was a way to get to know a country, but I've realized its quite the opposite. I'm not going to lie, sometimes I even like to step-aside from this culture and be a tourist, which is comically contradicting in itself. When I want to "get away" from this culture, I go do something touristy? Wow, that is what I thought the exact opposite definition of tourism is. I'm not quite sure what the point of all this is, nor do I want to present myself in a self-righteous way, but I do know, that after having lived in this long-standing, typically mis-represented country, tourism is a very fragile thing. It can make a country, or it can break it.

Next time you take a journey as a tourist, if you aren't lucky enough to know someone to experience the culture firsthand, please, think locally. Don't be like the stubborn, arrogant tourist who passed through my town, in a Spanish-speaking country who questioned why he should learn a word of spanish, when all the world should speak English. PLEASE travel mindfully and with a conscience. Remember, it is not your home. But it is someone else's.