Comparing sustainable tourism development in Turkey and Costa Rica

Tourism in International Relations
Lecture: Drs Usmar Salam MIS
Comparing sustainable tourism development in Turkey and Costa Rica
By: Chariez Gamaretha – 07/253969/SP/22145


Background
Sustainable Tourism Development is a concept in tourism sectors around the world. This concept has been used by many countries as a manual for tourism sectors. Sustainable Tourism Development concept can be defined as a continuity effort in many tourism areas. It also have four foundations, such as; 1. Economic Sustainability – that is profitable in both that immediate and long term; 2. Ecological Sustainability – development that is compatible with the maintenance of essential ecological processes, biological diversity, and biological resources; 3. Cultural Sustainability – increase people’s control over their lives and is compatible with the culture and values of those affected and strengthens that community identity; 4. Local Sustainability – that is designed to benefit local communities and generate/retain income in those communities.
Many countries use Sustainable Tourism Development concept as a manual for increasing their income from Tourism sectors. Why? Because, Sustainable Tourism Development concept make us know what we have to do with our tourism sectors in present and in the future. Sustainable Tourism Development helped the government to make a plan that fit their tourism sector. Nowadays, Tourism became a profitable sector. So that, many countries try their best to apply many tourism roles to make their tourism object become more interesting for tourists around the world. Tourism in some country also became a primer sector for their national income. Based on this concept, this article will compare the implementation of Sustainable Tourism Development concept in Turkey and Costa Rica. Those beautiful countries get a lot of national income from tourism sectors. Turkey with its fascinating historical tourism objects, and Costa Rica with its natural ecotourism objects.

Turkey and Sustainable Tourism Development Concept
Turkey is a beautiful country with many tourism objects in its area. As a beautiful country, Turkey has many advantages as one of the ancient country with many archeological remains in the world. Turkey also has an organized tourism program to maintenance its tourism object. Turkey’s government has an important role to apply the Sustainable Tourism Development concept in their tourism sectors. The success of Turkey’s Tourism sectors is made by the Turkey’s Government who has an important role in Tourism Sustainability. There are a lot of chance for Turkey to maximize its nature source, cultural source, history source, and its archeological remains.
Turkey’s Government has made many rules to keep their Tourism Sectors alive. The rules consist of the sustainability in many aspects in tourism sectors such as the utilization of natural resources, cultural resources, and also the sustainable restoration and maintenance for other tourism resources in Turkey. Turkey’s Government also protected the tourism resources from the extinction.
Generally, Turkey’s Tourism Policy is made to keep the economics advantages for the society. Turkey’s Government also made some tourism policy to keep the stability of the environment. Turkey was well known as a beautiful tourism country. Turkey has a beautiful beach and many ancient museums. Many tourists interested to visit Turkey because the historical object. As we know, Turkey has a great history in the past. Turkey’s Government always has a good maintenance for the historical remains.
Turkey’s government implemented the Sustainable Tourism Development concept with a charter named Sustainable Tourism Charter. This charter helped Turkey’s government, private, and the society to develop Tourism sectors in Turkey. Turkey’s Sustainable Tourism Charter consists of some rules to maintain and protect tourism object in Turkey. From this chapter, we also can know that Turkey was a country with a good experience in Tourism Sectors.
Turkey’s Sustainable Tourism Charter was made to make sure that tourism sector in Turkey was useful for every single society in Turkey. This charter based on the sustainability criteria and ecological concept for long term. The charter also has a tourism building principal, such as;
• Participation of the local society. The participation of local society was needed to control the tourism development in every area in the country.
• Participation of the tourism agent, such as; NGO, voluntary group, local government, tourism association, and business.
• Local ownership for the development of tourism object. The development of tourism object has to create a job vacancy for the local society.
• Utilizing of the sustainability resources. Tourism activities have to certify that the natural and artificial resources were maintained based on international standard.
• Contain the society aim to reach a harmony condition between the tourists and the local society.
• Monitoring and evaluating the tourism activity.
• Accountability of the sustainability development has to create a job vacancy, income, and the reparation society healthcare.
• Training for the society to know the sustainability development in tourism sectors.
• Tourism promotion based on the activity of the local society.

Costa Rica and Sustainable Tourism Development Concept
In the past, Costa Rica was a province in the center America. Costa Rica got its independent government in 1821. The capital of this country is San Jose. Costa Rica lied between Nicaragua and Panama. Tourism Industry in Costa Rica became one of the favorite tourism destinations (especially from USA, Canada and Europe). Tourism sectors in Costa Rica offer an ecotourism concept. Its also give many experiences for the tourists. Stability of the government, Easiness for the tourist access, beauty of the nature, and a lot of special fascination for the tourists were became a support to create a good sustainable tourism development in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica has beautiful tourism objects consists of mountains, beach, and national park. Every tourism object in Costa Rica reflected the natural beauty. 25% land in Costa Rica was turn become a protected area. This protected area, nowadays, became a favorite tourism object for the tourists. Costa Rica’s government became one of the government who cared about environmental issue.
Ecotourism in Costa Rica was supported by Sustainable Tourism Development concept. The implementation of Sustainable Tourism Development in Costa Rica proved by some domestic strategy, such as;
• Establish The Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT) in 1955. ICT is an autonomy institution. The job of the institution is to plan the policy for domestic and international level. This institution also has a regulation for the tourism service agent in Costa Rica. Tourism sectors development in Costa Rica put the Local development as a primer action. This primer action was held by some activity that involved the environment issue. So, the tourism development can not destruct the balance of the environment.
• Apply the Certification in Sustainable Tourism. The Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT) was had some cooperation with Costa Rican National Accreditation Commission to make a Certification in Sustainable Tourism Program (CST). This Certificate is very useful to help Costa Rica’s government manage the local tourism actors to obey the Sustainable Tourism Development Concept. This Certificate also useful to keep the tourism object from human destruction.
By those kind of certificate, Costa Rica was in the right way to implementing the Sustainable Tourism Concept in domestic level. The concept of Sustainable Tourism Development helped Costa Rica to increase its income from Tourism sectors. The concept also helped Costa Rica to keep its beautiful tourism object.

Comparison of Sustainable Tourism Development
Turkey and Costa Rica were implementing the Sustainable Tourism Development Concept in their Tourism Sectors. Both of the countries used Sustainable Tourism Concept to maintain their Tourism Sectors. The concept also helped those countries to keep their tourism object from destruction. By that, we know that Sustainable Tourism Development Concept was the right way to direct tourism sectors in the country into the great and profitable sectors.
Usually, this concept was used by the country which has a tourism sector as a primer sector to get the income for the national society, Turkey and Costa Rica were the perfect examples. Both of these countries develop their tourism sectors as one of a primer sectors. Though these countries use the same concept, but the implementation of the concept was different. Turkey implementing Sustainable Tourism Development Concept with a charter named Sustainable Tourism Charter. Meanwhile, Costa Rica implementing the concept with the institution named Costa Rican Tourism Board and a certificate named Certification in Sustainable Tourism Program.
The implementation became different because each country fit the Sustainable Tourism Development Concept with their domestic condition. Turkey used the Concept to maintain and keep its historical tourism but Costa Rica used the concept to maintain and keep its natural tourism (well known by ecotourism). The differences between these countries caused by many factors, such as, geographic condition, cultural condition, and the government vision about the importance of Tourism Sector.
Turkey and Costa Rica also have some similarities in implementing the sustainable tourism concept. In this case, these countries have the same vision about the importance of tourism sector. For both countries, Tourism became a primer sector and they want to make it last forever. Both countries also have a same vision about the environmental issue. No wonder if the implementation has some similarities and differences. Because, Sustainable Tourism Development was a global concept that can fit in any countries in the world. It just depends on the implementation that every government did.

Resources :

Microsoft Encarta Premium 2009

Bater, J.et al. ;2001; Planning for Local Level :Sustainable Tourism Development; Canadian Universities Consortium

http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turki

http://www.kompas.com

http://leisure.roll.co.id/top-destination-c/15-top-destination/2552-content-producer.html

http://www.sinarharapan.co.id

R.L. Woodward, Costa Rica, Microsoft Student 2008, Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation 2007.