In the early 2000’s, some people in the Costa Rican government realized that something was missing. With just over 1 million visitors arriving each year, there was a growing concern that many Costa Ricans throughout the country were missing out on the benefits of tourism.
And the visitors were missing out on the heart and soul of the country: hard-working people in villages and small towns who grew the food, the coffee, the cacao for chocolate and others who represented authentic Costa Rican life.
Thus was born the idea of Rural Tourism.
Rural tourism, at its best, provides visitors with a glimpse at the heart and soul of the country: families and small businesses that make up a large part of the economy. And, to give visitors an experience of authentic Costa Rica.
The Ministry of Tourism then began several programs to help jumpstart rural tourism, including grant money for cooperatives and other projects. One of the main cooperatives — COOPRENA, (also known as Simbiosis Tours) was one of the major factors in getting rural tourism off the ground. It served as an umbrella for tiny, rural ecolodges all over the country and provided the marketing and other expertise that they needed and didn’t have the skills to provide on their own. The Ministry also began a marketing campaign for rural tourism that included reserving display booths at Tourism fairs and providing both space for free or at a heavily discounted cost.
Now, instead of Tourism fairs being limited to resorts and large hotels and big tour agencies, you can also find small ecolodges, cacao growers and chocolate makers, herbal soaps, shampoos and lotions, artists. The Indigenous community is well represented and one of the first to be involved was the community known as Yorkin of the BriBri, a village in the south of Costa Rica that can be reached only by boat. These efforts not only help the individual businesses but the people of the various communities.
Bijagua became part of the rural tourism with several local projects involved, including Heliconias Lodge, which was a leader in that part of the industry and our very own Casitas Tenorio.
More than just finding an ecolodge, it’s also an experience of visiting small farms and learning about the families’ every day lives; seeing a huge herb garden that is just ready to be harvested for soap making; volunteering with a conservation project and using a “homestay” to get close to a Costa Rican family -and – improve your Spanish at the same time.
Rural tourism has been a real boon both to the people of the countryside as well as the visitors to Costa Rica. Now, with around 3 million visitors each year, there is a wide choice of experience and rural tourism is an important part of that. And yes, it’s the real “Pura Vida” of Costa Rica!
