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PhD Proposal for Study: University of Derby

United Kingdom

The Social Impact of the Demand for Costa Rica

Tourism

9/1/2001

Brian M Touray MSc Griffith University

Introduction

Much has been written in the tourism literature about

the benefits of ecotourism, which is perceived as different

from mass tourism in being a niche industry with minimal

impact of the indigenous culture and natural setting. While

most authorities agree that ecotourism can have positive

effects as alternative to conventional resort tourism, it may

also have the potential to become a mass industry with

substantial impacts on the local culture and society. The

proposed thesis study will examine the present and potential

impact of tourism on Costa Rican society, to assess whether

the ecotourism trend is indeed having minimal negative

effects on the local culture. The purpose of the study is to

validate claims that ecotourism avoids most of the perils of

mainstream mass tourism. The focus of the study will be on

local economic development, social change and the impact of

tourism as an industry, not on the character or environmental

benefits of ecotourism.

The study addresses the concern that ecotourism may well

be one more opening for mass tourism in the LDCs (less

developed countries), stunting local economic development for

the sake of esoteric consumer appetites. According to Keller

(1984), most international tourists comes from the

industrialized metropolitan centers, and constantly growing

tourist demand is met by creating new tourist destinations

in undeveloped or developing peripheral regions like Costa

Rica. In these peripheral regions, the tourism development

process has often been taken over by foreign investors and

developers, and therefore largely serves their interests

and needs rather than those of the local inhabitants. The

study will therefore examine issues of local ownership,

social change through foreign contacts, and creation of a

novel but artificial "eco-culture" that may or may not be

in the best interests of the citizenry.

A preliminary research question is whether ecotourism

can and does represent a potential phenomenon of mass

tourism, with its attendant social and economic

transformations. Matthews (1979:3) defines mass tourism as

"the movement of large numbers of travelers from one

country to another by means of mass transport... this

involves mass hotel accommodations, and above all, mass

selling". Mass tourism is the major type of tourism

currently being developed in the Third World, and it is

widely believed to be the only type of tourism, which can

bring substantial economic and social benefits to the host

country.

This, however, does not alter the fact that other

types of tourists visit unspoiled tropical regions, and in

increasing numbers. Costa Rica, Tobago, and several other

countries, for example, now target and attract many

adventure/nature-oriented "ecotourists." Costa Rica, as a

nation of small land area, limited resources and only a few

million people, is clearly not prepared to offer a mass

tourism based on mass consumption and unlimited growth of

lodgings, travel and attractions. This pattern of

consumption is not sustainable, as guests from much larger

rich countries consume, while host country suppliers of raw

materials and cheap labor stay poor. In the past, economists

believed that economic development could create an automatic

"takeoff" effect for any developing countries, and that the

dream of wealth (or at least freedom from poverty) could be

real for nations like Costa Rica with tourism appeal. Despite

this promise, however, few of the Caribbean or Central

American countries have realized true, indigenous economic

development and rising incomes over the last quarter century.

The study will be structured in standard thesis format

of five chapters: Introduction, Review of the Literature,

Methodology, Findings, and Conclusions and Recommendations.

Specific areas for future study will be noted in the

concluding section.

Tentative List of Resources Archer, E.D, and C.S. Davies (1984) "Reassessing Third World Tourism: The Case of the Barbados." The Tourist Review 39 2, p. 19-23. Britton, R.A. (1978) International Tourism and Indigenous Development Objectives: A Study with Social Reference to the West Indies. Ph. D. Thesis, University of Minnesota. Caribbean Tourism Research Centre [CTRC] (1980) Caribbean Tourism Markets: Structures and Strategies. ed. Cynthia Wilson. Christ Church, Barbados. Kotler, P.; Haider, D. H.; and Rein, I. (1991) Marketing Places: Attracting Investment, Industry and Tourism to Cities, States and Nations. New York: The Free Press. Matthews, H.G. (1978) International Tourism: A Political and Social Analysis Boston, Massachusetts: Schenkman Publishing Co. O'Meara, K. (1996) "Tourism Coalition Aims to Build on Past Marketing Successes." Travel Weekly 55 2, pp. 44-5. Todaro, M.P. (l981) Economic Development in the Third World. New York: Longman Inc. United States Agency for International Development. Win Win Approaches to Development and the Environment: Ecotourism and Biodiversity Conservation. Bureau for Policy and Program Coordination, Center for Development Information and Evaluation. July 1996. Brian M Touray MSc. Tourism Management Griffith University, Australia