After today, I honestly understand a lot more why younger generations in Costa Rica are becoming more interested in tourism than traditional farming. Visiting the pineapple farm made me realize how physically exhausting and repetitive farming can actually be. Our guide talked about how workers spend hours outside in intense heat while fully covered in protective clothing because the pineapple plants can cut up their skin. Even throughout the rest of the trip, we’ve heard similar things from coffee and cacao farms about waking up extremely early, working long hours, and dealing with difficult conditions every day. Compared to that, tourism probably feels a lot more exciting and rewarding to younger people because it involves interacting with visitors, sharing experiences, and turning agriculture into something people travel to see instead of just hard labor behind the scenes. I also think younger generations are naturally drawn toward careers that feel more connected to people, social media, travel, and global culture, which tourism provides much more than farming.
At the same time, I think there are definitely risks if too many people move away from agriculture completely. One thing I kept thinking about during the pineapple tour was that tourism only works because farming still exists in the first place. People come to Costa Rica to tour coffee farms, chocolate factories, pineapple plantations, and experience the country’s agriculture and environment firsthand. If fewer younger people continue farming, there is a risk that a lot of that knowledge, tradition, and local production slowly disappears over time. I also think relying too heavily on tourism can become dangerous because tourism is unpredictable. Things like economic issues, natural disasters, or another global event like COVID could quickly impact the number of visitors coming into the country. Overall, I think agrotourism is a really smart way for Costa Rica to combine both industries, but I also think there needs to be a balance so tourism continues supporting agriculture instead of eventually replacing it.