Today we attended a marketing lecture and had time to ourselves for lunch, exploring the local restaurants in La Fortuna. Some of the girls went to a great place where I got chicken nuggets and fries (comfort food)! After, we went to an adorable bakery where I got a pistachio macaron and a chocolate donut for our long bus ride tomorrow. While it was a shorter day, I feel like I learned a good amount. Marketing can make or break a great company, no matter how strong they are without it. Our speaker today spoke honestly about challenges you can face with marketing and how important a focused mission is. A lot of tourist places in Costa Rica follow this approach with their fun activities, but an emphasis on sustainability.

With sustainability specifically, there are many ways for Costa Rica to achieve it. However, a lot of land owners lean toward tourism. I believe that this method is often used because it is relatively easy. Many other ways to fund conservation take a lot more time and effort. Private owners can buy land and take care of it and the government can fund and protect areas. In fact our lecture today was between privately owned land and a nationally protected area. The government can increase tax dollars or can give money to private owners if they protect their properties. This is not the easiest way, as tourism creates a revenue stream that can go back into the land, whereas these require taking money from citizens. Tourism in Costa Rica is particularly strong, helping the economy greatly too. During off seasons, companies can try to draw in locals, cut hours, or use the time to invest in maintenance. With funding, they could try to rely on grants, donations, or local partnerships. It’s clear that managaing land with tourism is not quite as easy and fun as it seems. It requires a balance, but so much of Costa Rica is doing so well with the challenge.