Costa Rica, through the Tourism Institute, is now part of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, GSTC.

GSTC is an international non-governmental organization founded in 2007 under the name Partnership for Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria, working in the field of sustainability in tourism, and sustainable tourism certification.

According to the institute, the goal of being part of this organization is to apply sustainability policies and practices in the national travel and tourism sector.

"The Council is an organization with which Costa Rica shares the vision of sustainable tourism development and validates the country's status as a world benchmark in tourism," William Rodríguez, Minister of Tourism said.

This council is the world's leading authority that sets and administers sustainable travel and tourism standards. Its criteria helps the public and private sectors around the world to have clarity in their sustainable development, promotion policies and practices.

The institute is responsible for promoting tourism sustainability in Costa Rica. Now by being an active member of the Council, you will help strengthen the positioning of the Certification for Sustainable Tourism and the certified companies through the activities and benefits offered by the Council.

One of the actions to regulate tourism activities was the launch of the new Regulation for the Operation of Adventure Tourism Activities last week. This allows adventure tourism companies to be able to hire certified tour guides, qualified employees and people certified by international adventure organizations to meet the requirement for the different types of adventure tourism activities.

Records show that during the first half of the year, there have been over 1.2 million tourists in Costa Rica.

 

Just last year, over 1.3 million tourists visited Costa Rica.

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What new regulation should apply to Costa Rican tourism companies?  We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com