Tourism Sustainability
Costa Rica has become a country recognized for the environmental strategies that are implemented throughout the Costa Rican territory.
In 1997, the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) created a sustainable development instrument whose purpose is to help balance tourism and the environment and thus maintain the productive capacity of the industry: the Certificate of Sustainable Tourism (CST)
“Sustainable tourism development must be seen as the balanced interaction between the appropriate use of our natural and cultural resources, the improvement of the quality of life of local communities, and the economic success of the activity; it also has to contribute to national development. Tourism sustainability is not only the response to demand, but it is an indispensable condition to compete successfully now and in the future “(Definition of Sustainable Tourism, CST 1997).
The CST is a process through which companies and organizations voluntarily analyze their operations looking for efficiency, productivity, quality, environmental impacts and customer satisfaction, which allows them to measure the level of sustainability of their operation and establish development models that enrich the community and culture, while making responsible use of resources and promoting their conservation.
Sustainability Policy
Costa Rica DMC Inc. understands the importance of developing sustainable tourism and is committed to supporting and applying environmentally friendly practices that help mitigate climate change and reduce the risk of endangering the environment.
- General:
Costa Rica DMC Inc. will establish policies and procedures to implement, document, maintain, and improve our methods of sustainability. - Specific:
Offer work opportunities that guarantee complete compliance to the labor laws of Costa Rica
Maintain good social, environmental and business relationships in all the communities with which we work.
Give priority to the purchase process to utilize the services of and work with the vendors in the locations where we operate and have our activities.
Get the local communities, prioritizing the ones with more need, involved in the CRS projects
Continue training our employees on the importance of a culture of sustainability.
Promote our best practices on sustainability among our staff, service providers and clients.
Offer equity for activities available to people with disabilities to gain access to products, services and information on accessible attractions.
Reduce, prevent and eliminate whenever possible our carbon footprint at our workplace and create an environmentally friendly atmosphere in the locations where we do our touristic activities.
Remind our service providers of the importance in having sustainable polices in place.-Exclusively work with service providers that share the same beliefs as us and have the same sustainability policies as ours.
Provide training on the importance of sustainability policies in the form of lectures or virtual webinars to all our staff, guides and chauffeurs.
Inform our foreign guests and tourists on the importance of conservation and sustainability, endangered species on the brink of extinction and Costa Rica’s policies and efforts to preserve nature.
Promote responsible and healthy practices in tourism to all parties involved.
Actively support the efforts against human trafficking and sexual exploitation of children.
We actively support the “Good Conduct Protocol for Protection for Children and Adolescents against Sexual Exploitation”, and it is implemented in all our touristic activities, shared with all our staff, clients and service providers.
We do not support or encourage child labor.
Work toward the economic benefit of local towns and their wellbeing.
Work toward improving the working conditions of the local workers and provide them with job opportunities in the tourism industry.
Obtain market shares which promote the same vision on sustainable tourism as us.
Promote and highlight the importance of history, architecture, heritage, and local culture and traditions to create funds that benefit the local population.
Encourage fair prices for everyone who participates in touristic activities.
Offer tourists programs that will leave them with memorable experiences, having made a deep connection with the locals, and with a better comprehension of the cultural, social and environmental aspects of Costa Rica.
Costa Rica DMC Inc. is committed to providing people with disabilities the equal opportunity to participate in touristic activities. We are experts when it comes to our tour destinations, the suppliers we work with, their infrastructure, services, and products, and therefore are able to inform our clients accordingly regarding the specific needs of people with disabilities. We have a strategic alliance with the Costa Rican Accessible Tourism Network, that leads the Dona Tapa project, based on collecting all kinds of plastic and plastic caps # 2, # 4 and # 5, in order to transform them into 100% recycled plastic-wood through an industrial process. This plastic-wood is used to manufacture innovative products such as retractable walkways and ‘amphibious’ wheelchairs to support the participation of people with disabilities in touristic activities.
Costa Rica DMC Inc. rejects the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents in Costa Rica and in the world, in any form, but in particular associated with travel and tourism, as it is a conduct that violates the fundamental rights of people and is completely contrary to the intrinsic objectives of tourist activity, which are to promote peace, human rights, mutual understanding, respect for all peoples and cultures, and sustainable development. We denounce and condemn those who use tourist activity and the facilities and services it offers to promote, facilitate or tolerate the occurrence of commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.
Costa Rica DMC Inc. favors the purchase of products and the contracting of services from suppliers who share the vision of contributing to sustainable development in the provision of tourism services in the country. We favor, support and promote certified suppliers who follow sustainable practices.
At Costa Rica DMC Inc., we have zero tolerance regarding the commercialization or exhibition of historical and archaeological artifacts, and we denounce those who incur these practices.
At Costa Rica DMC Inc., we are aware of the dire need to conserve water, the most important natural resource which solely determines the existence of all types of life on planet earth, be they humans, plants or animals, we are committed to:
-Promote reasonable water usage, both in the office and in the development of our tourist activities.
-Encourage our clients to practice reasonable water usage during their stay.
-Keep a plan that helps us monitor and control our monthly water consumption in the office.
-Develop a preventive maintenance program in our office.
-Improve our vehicle washing routine.
-Carry out awareness programs among our collaborators and suppliers regarding the reasonable and efficient use of water.
-Report sources of water contamination in host communities.
Costa Rica DMC Inc. organizes, promotes and executes community development programs among local communities that include infrastructure, education, health, environment, and climate change, through donations and volunteers.
Costa Rica DMC Inc. promotes gender equality in all its operations, offering equal work and development opportunities to women, a 58% of its workforce being women. We hire entrepreneurial women for our events who work as florists, dancers, musicians, singers, decorators, mostly from local communities. We have started an alliance with the “Soy Niña” Program, a non-profit organization that seeks to empower girls who live in areas of psychosocial risk, working on the prevention of unwanted pregnancies and the prevention of violence, supporting the fragmentation of cycles of poverty, and empowers girls so that they can build a risk-free and danger-free life.
Costa Rica DMC Inc. respects and protects local properties and sites that are historically, archeologically, culturally, or spiritually important, and does not prevent local residents from accessing them.
At Costa Rica DMC Inc., we value and incorporate authentic elements of traditional and contemporary local culture in our operations, design, decoration, gastronomy, and markets, respecting the intellectual property rights of local communities. We promote and support Costa Rican artists, artisans and entrepreneurs, who incorporate elements of local culture in their products and services.
Costa Rica DMC Inc. does not capture, keep in captivity, manipulate, commercialize or consume species of flora and fauna with legal protection, endangered or on the brink of extinction, and we denounce and condemn those who do.
Action plan against climate change
-Post information about the correct form of hand washing in our office lavatories
-Use a water filter for the consumption of employees and visitors
-Wash vehicles with a bucket to reduce water consumption
-Use of biodegradable and environmentally friendly products
-Reduce the consumption of sanitary services, installing water bottles inside the catchment tank
-Using non-cellulosic printer paper
-Using recycled paper for printing
-Shred reused paper and send it to the recycling center
-Implementation of digital platforms, in order to decrease the amount of printing
-Exclusive use of inkjet printers
-Awareness campaigns among employees about the use of paper
-Encourage the use of digital documents
-Use of led lights in our offices
-Use of efficient computer equipment in all jobs that do not require frequent loads
-Preventive maintenance of air conditioning
-Carrying out awareness campaigns regarding the proper use of energy:
–Turn off the air conditioning when the office is empty
–Unplug all electrical appliances daily
–Reminders on the dampers
-Control of waste generated in our offices
-Permanent ecological point in the office for the separation, classification, storage, reuse or recycling of waste
-Delivery of recyclable waste to a collection center
-Carry out campaigns to raise awareness regarding good solid waste management practices for employees
-Participation in the E-Coins Program
-Pay attention to our noise levels and respect the rights of others to enjoy a comfortable environment
-Use the vehicle’s horn conservatively, only to prevent accidents
-Avoid sudden accelerations and the use of free exhausts
-Use short duration alarms
-Listen to music at a level that does not cause discomfort to others
-Moderate cell phone ringtones
-Speak at a moderate volume
-Move chairs, tables or other furniture without making noise
-Close the doors without slamming them
-Limit the time of use of headphones, use them at a moderate noise level and try not to use them in noisy environments or means of transport
-Eliminate the purchase and subsequent consumption of aerosols or sprays with a composition of chlorofluorocarbon gases (CFC)
-Avoid using fire extinguishers that contain halons, a very aggressive substance for the ozone layer
-Perform periodic preventive maintenance of air conditioners in the office and in automobiles
-Use energy saving light bulbs
-Carry out carpooling promotion campaigns
-We protect and if applicable restore ecosystems affected by our operation, and promote their sustainable use
-We create alliances with national parks and biological reserves for the restoration of ecosystems through reforestation campaigns with our collaborators
-We avoid the use of exotic and invasive species in our operations and promote the use of native species in our offices
-We do not acquire, keep in captivity, reproduce, consume, display, interact with, sell or trade wild species
Client Review
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