Costa Rica Revolutionizes Tourism With Institutional Reform Aimed At Equity, Sustainability, And Economic Growth For Long-Term Prosperity

Published on December 12, 2025

Costa Rica is set to transform its tourism sector with a bold reform aimed at addressing transparency, sustainability, and equity. The current system, managed by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), faces challenges such as unequal distribution of benefits and lack of transparency. By restructuring the institutional framework, Costa Rica aims to create a more accountable and sustainable tourism industry. This reform is designed to ensure that tourism not only boosts the economy but also supports local communities, environmental conservation, and long-term growth, positioning Costa Rica as a leader in responsible tourism.

Tourism plays a crucial role in Costa Rica’s national economy, serving as a significant driver of both economic growth and social development. It contributes notably to the country’s GDP and employment, positioning it as a central pillar in the nation’s development strategy. Despite this, the current institutional model for tourism management, predominantly guided by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), faces several systemic challenges. These include uneven access to tourism benefits, concentration of resources, and limitations in applying a sustainable and equitable approach. This proposal presents a vision for reforming the institutional framework to enhance transparency, fairness, sustainability, and coordination across various institutions, with a regenerative focus.

Economic Significance of Tourism in Costa Rica

Tourism is integral to Costa Rica’s economy, providing substantial contributions to GDP and employment. As of 2016, the sector represented up to 8.2% of the country’s GDP and generated around 211,000 direct jobs, accounting for 8.8% of the total workforce. These figures underscore the economic weight of tourism, emphasizing its potential as a powerful tool for social and economic development. However, this potential can only be realized if tourism is managed in an inclusive, responsible, and sustainable manner that ensures widespread benefits.

Institutional Challenges and the Need for Reform

The Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), established by Law 1917, holds a broad mandate that includes international promotion of Costa Rica as a tourist destination, regulating the private sector, and providing services where the market is insufficient. Despite its pivotal role, there are concerns regarding inefficiencies within the ICT’s institutional model. For instance, there are overlaps between the ICT’s functions and those of private enterprises, which can lead to unintentional competition. Moreover, transparency remains a key issue, with limited public access to detailed information regarding the distribution of benefits, staff assignments, and criteria for resource allocation. These gaps in transparency and accountability highlight the need for a restructuring of the current institutional framework.

International Examples of Sustainable Tourism Management

Costa Rica can draw valuable lessons from international examples, such as those of New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain, which have successfully integrated sustainable development, innovation, and territorial equity within their tourism policies. These countries have demonstrated the importance of professionalizing the public sector, ensuring active community participation, and maintaining high levels of accountability. By adapting aspects of these models to Costa Rica’s unique context, it is possible to establish a more transparent and sustainable tourism sector that delivers long-term benefits to both the economy and the community.

Proposed Institutional Reforms

The proposed reform aims to integrate tourism management within the Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Commerce (MEIC), positioning the ICT as a specialized technical body focused on expertise, supervision, and accountability. This restructuring would clearly distinguish between the roles of promotion, regulation, and service provision, reducing any potential conflicts with the private sector. A key element of the reform is the establishment of active transparency, which includes the publication of staff rosters, contracts, selection criteria, budget distribution, and external audits. By ensuring transparency in these areas, Costa Rica can promote greater accountability and trust within the tourism sector.

Additionally, the creation of a National Tourism Observatory, involving citizen and academic participation, is recommended to monitor and assess the impacts of tourism policies. This observatory would serve as an important tool for ensuring that tourism development is aligned with national priorities for sustainability, equity, and economic growth.

Fostering Regenerative and Sustainable Tourism

One of the primary objectives of the proposed reform is to promote regenerative and sustainable tourism practices. The focus should be on prioritizing environmental conservation, protecting local ecosystems, and fostering community-driven tourism initiatives. Policies should encourage the growth of community-based tourism, rural tourism, and ecological tourism, with an emphasis on empowering small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and cooperatives. By supporting these types of tourism, Costa Rica can ensure that its tourism industry grows in a manner that benefits both the economy and local communities, while also safeguarding its natural environment.

Costa Rica’s tourism sector has tremendous growth potential. However, to realize this potential fully, the country’s institutional framework must undergo reform. By strengthening transparency, equity, and sustainability, the ICT can evolve into a modern, responsible body that integrates tourism with broader goals of economic development and social well-being. The proposed reforms will ensure that tourism’s benefits are equitably distributed, providing long-lasting positive impacts for the economy, local communities, and the environment. With these changes, Costa Rica can position itself as a global leader in sustainable tourism, setting an example for other nations to follow.