Lesson learned from rural community tourism experiences in Pavon, Golfito, Costa Rica

Abstract

The article summarizes the results of the experiences obtained during the development of the graduation project Incorporation rural community tourism as a complementary economic activity in the coastal community of Rio Claro of the district Pavon, Golfito, Puntarenas (Prendas, 2014). The objective of the study is to present the lessons learned from a community-based tourism project operated by people in the community in a coastal area south of Costa Rica. The first step consisted in organizing the leaders of the main community associations, and then conducting a survey to find out what tourists would like the area to offer them. Later, what the community wants was compared with what tourists demanded. The results gave way to the creation of a tour operator directed by the coastal community; which aims to highlight the essence of the rural community.  In addition, establishing linkages with government institutions to strengthen the tour operator through training in different areas of the service and marketing was achieved.