BECOMING GREEN - Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism - page 188

in colloquial Spanish that few of us could follow. There was a small rebellion to end that.
At another point a passenger decided she could answer our questions better than our Costa
Rican guide. The guide diplomatically cut her off.
The Osa Peninsula is something of a showpiece for ecotourism on Costa Rica's Pacific
Coast and is routinely used as an example of best practices as well as a reason to prevent
the rest of the coast from being developed with chock-a-block high-density motels. To
make that point, the Center for Responsible Travel, headquartered in Washington, D.C.,
published a survey in 2011 showing that Costa Ricans working at ecolodges as housekeep-
ers, kitchen staff and groundskeepers earn an average of $709 each month, nearly twice
as much as other workers in the region, whose average income is $357. And the people
working in ecolodges were far more likely to be from the Osa region than those in other
jobs, who were imported from other regions and willing to work for less money.
The survey also questioned the tourists. The majority said they came to Osa to enjoy
the wilderness and said they considered themselves people who “were concerned about
traveling in ways that are socially and environmentally responsible.” They said their va-
cations in Osa were a “good value,” and would have been willing to pay more than the
$42 fee charged to visit Corcovado National Park. That study and many others have linked
Costa Rica's successful ecotourism industry with the fact that Costa Rica stands out as the
wealthiest nation in Central America, with a high rate of literacy and good health care sys-
tem.
Foreign hotels and tour operators have taken note of the popularity and profitability of
Costa Rica's ecotourism market and have bought up considerable land there to build their
own hotels. I witnessed how valuable that tourism has become during a maneuver at the
highest diplomatic level. In 2003, Costa Rica was one of five Central American countries
negotiating a new trade agreement with the United States called the Central American
Free Trade Agreement or CAFTA. Just as the agreement was to be announced at a pub-
lic press conference, Costa Rica bowed out, in part because the United States refused to
drop its demand that Costa Rica open up its tourist trade to foreign corporations, giving
up some control of its coastline and its emphasis on ecotourism. That public standoff was
my first introduction to the power of ecotourism. (In fact, that was the first time I had ever
written the word “ecotourism” in an article.) I was covering the negotiations as the New
York Times international economics correspondent and I had never seen a country walk
away from a U.S. trade deal at the last minute. The other four countries signed the accord.
Costa Rica waited one year before signing, after negotiating the removal of the threat to its
tourism industry.
Back on the ship the crew had organized a display of local handicrafts for sale in what
they called the “global marketplace.” On sale were baskets handwoven from native grasses
by indigenous women; jewelry crafted by local artists; and blouses and shirts sewn by nat-
ive seamstresses. I bought a necklace for a gift.