Officially named the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the UK is an island nation comprised of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Consistently among the top 6 international destinations, and boasting 27 natural and cultural UNESCO world heritage sites, there’s no shortage of awe-inspiring places to explore in the UK. Consequently, travellers continually repeating similar tracks puts a heavy burden on the natural and built environment, and motivates visionaries in the industry to find solutions to manage tourism in a sustainable way.

A recent article in Tico Times, “Grim Tourism Outlook Has Silver Lining,” discusses the impact of the global economic downturn on tourism in Costa Rica, noting that “the economic crisis presents an opportunity for the [tourism] sector to reinvent itself” and “to ensure future development in Costa Rica shares the vision of sustainability.” If handled effectively, the crisis can be an opportunity for fostering sustainable growth of Costa Rica as an ecotourism destination, concludes the report by a local tourism consulting group.

“Since I have been excited by the development of community-owned ecotourism businesses in Costa Rica over the last decade, and have given them a lot of space in The New Key to Costa Rica, I started seeing over development as a community issue too. It’s a sign that the people of a community do not have a say in what goes on there–to the point where the community’s water supply can be threatened. This has been the subject of several lawsuits in the northern Guanacaste beaches… Beatrice Blake, author of The New Key to Costa Rica