SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN COSTA RICA AND TURKEY

"TOURISM IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS"
Lecture: Drs.Usmar Salam, MIS.
Writer: Mellia Hanum Pranasari, 07/250725/SP/22025
International Relations-Gadjah Mada University

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN COSTA RICA AND TURKEY

I. Background
Development of tourism become an important economic pillar in many states. Tourism bring so many income that help the states to increase their GNP (Gross National Product). Tourism are capable to represent a political power and also can be used as political instrument to reach the interest of their country. Sustainable tourism, according to The World Tourism Organization, is a concept in tourism development which leads to management of all instrument in such way that economic, social, and aesthetic needs can be filled while maintaining cultural integrity, essentials ecological processes, biological diversity, and life support systems.
There are four pillars in sustainable tourism :
1. Economic sustainability.
That is profitable in both the immidiate 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 the community identity.
4. Local sustainability.
That is designed to benefit local communities and generate/ retain income in those communities.
In this article, we will compared the concept of sustainable tourism development in Costa Rica and Turkey. We will also discuss how they implemented the sustainable tourism development concept in their own country.

II. Sustainable Tourism Development in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica has many wonderful tourism object, especially the coasts. In Spanish, Costa Rica mean “Rich Coasts” . Length of Costa Rica coasts are 763 mil with white sand spread out the area.
Sustainable tourism development in Costa Rica divided into two parts, inbound strategy and outbound strategy.
1. Inbound Strategy.
This are the several eforts from Costa Rica’s government to increase their inbound tourism performance :
a. Established Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT) in 1955 as govermental autonomous institution.
b. Implemented Certification in Sustainable Tourism. ICT and Costa Rican National Accreditation Commision made The Certification in Sustainable Tourism Program (CST) to clasify various sector tourism in Costa Rica and to assured that tourism industry comply the principle of sustainable natural resources, social, and cultural management.
c. Created stability and democratic government in Costa Rica.
d. Increase the availability of transportation and communication services.
e. Increase the education quality, especially to support intellectual capability of local communities.
f. Equalize the allocation of tourism buliding fund.
g. Incentive from government to stakeholders.
h. Costa Rica doesn’t have an armies. This policy build an image in international society that Costa Rica is peaceful country and away from violences.
2. Outbound Strategy
a. Bilateral, regional, and international tourism cooperation.
b. Costa Rica is party to international treaties concerning biodiversity, climate change, endangered species, hazardous wastes, marine dumping, and wetlands .
c. Sharp in observe the stability of international security and convince the world about their conductivity.
d. Show the real commitment to environment issue. For example global warming issue.
e. Make a Tourism Certification for regional-international scale.
f. Do the promotion unceasingly.
g. Implementing debt-for-nature swap. This policy make Costa Rican government used their tourism to supporting their economic live.

III. Sustainable Development in Turkey
Turkey is a rich country in tradition, history and culture. But, Turkey also a modern and sophisticated country to attract the tourists. Turkey lay between Europe and Asia. 3 % from their teritorial lay in Europe, and the rest of their teritorial lay in Asia Minor (Anatolia). Geographically, Turkey abuted on Greek, Bulgary, Armenia, Georgia, Syria, Iran, and Iraq. This condition make Turkey have a diversity climate and a different tourism object on each places. To manage their tourism, the government should pay attention to nature factor.
The active role from Turkish government support their successes in tourism activity. The role of local and main government give more opportunity for Turkey to maximize their nature, culture, history, and archaelogical remains. To implement sustainable tourism development, Turkish Department of Tourism establish a sustainable development principles such as the best utilization of natural resources and cultural resources, restoration and sustainable maintenance of natural and cultural resources, and the protection for tourist and local inhabitant about the negative impact from enviroment damages. Generally, the objective of Turkish tourism policy are to maintain economic benefit from tourism and make sure that the policies are sustainable and friendly to the environment.
Real efforts from Turkish government to fulfill four aspects of sustainable tourism:
a. Economic Sustainability.
A tourism objects should cause a benefit in short-term and long-term. Turkish government manage many tourism object in Turkey. The various tourism object in Turkey prevent the stagnation of financial income from tourism business, and all at once is to prevent the boredom of tourist about tourism object in Turkey. The prospect of various tourism object promise a sustainable benefit to Turkist government in the future. This things should be balance with innovation and optimal utilization of natural resources.
b. Ecological Sustainability.
Ecological sustainability created in the building of tourism in sector ecotourism, plateau and agricultural tourism. The building of this tourism involve the government, society, and NGO. Society have an important role to community based tourism development, where society act as an actor in the building of tourism with facilitation from government and private party. Government and private party has an important role in the buliding of infrastructure that support tourism development. Turkey realize that the building of infrastructure should adjust with ecological sustainability concept.
Turkey should implemented the ecological sustainability because of tourism package that they put on the market in strategic plan Turki-2023, inclining to ecotourism. In ecotourism if the environment and culture are damaged,then the sales value will continue to decrease drastically.
c. Cultural Sustainability.
Turkish efforts to create a cultural sustainability focused on societies control toward social live in Turkey that appropriate with culture, values, and norms. It will automatically increase the status of Turkish citizen identities.
d. Local Sustainability.
Basic purpose of local sustainability is to give a benefit to local communities, or in simple way is to increase the local communities income. In Turkey, local communities could directly participate in tourism maintenance. Turkish government bring ecotourism as a coordinating institution to involve the local communities in the tourism development. In this case, Turkish government played along with international organization, such as OMYC. The objective of this cooperation is to handle biological diversity conservation and proverty problems. This cooperation also ranged in the building of resources development, diversity local communities economy, and to protect natural resources that become subsistence sources of local communities.
Turkish government also support and encourage utilizing of innovative technology, so the local communities could supply excellent tourism services to the tourists and all this things came in useful to economic and local quality of life. The other important things are reinforcement organization, Turkish government established National Tourism Council (NTC), City Tourism Councils (CTC), and Local Level Councils. This organization head for make sure that the tourism benefit can be spread evenly until the local citizens, to make sure that the quality of Turkish tourism fulfill the established standard. For example, inn facilities, product and labour. Turkish government support the business world to give an education toward local communities about how to give a good services to the tourist and to increase the quality of human resources in local communities.
The last way that proven to be effective to do is use the local communities agriculture products for tourism needs. Because a ood tourism should be created a multiplier effect to all level.
The obstacles to create sustainable tourism development are the existences of difference perception inter stakeholders that involve in tourism management, not yet existence regulation rigid (criteria, indicator, standard) in Turkish tourism implementation. The challenges to create sustainable tourism development are cooperation between stakeholders definite into the scope of MoU (Memorandum of Understanding), not in real cooperation. The continuity of this cooperation still inquire.

IV. Comparasion
The Turkish government looks as good as the Costa Rican government in make strategy for sustainable tourism development. Both of this countries point out their seriousness to implemented the sustainable tourism development concept. Both of this countries also adopt the ecotourism concept to develop their tourism business. Tourism became an economic pillar in both Costa Rica and Turkey.
Their greatest financial income arrive from the tourism sector. This is why Costa Rica and Turkey very serious handle the development of tourism. The damaged environment could decrease their income, so both of this countries make serious efforts to keep the preservation of environment.
The diferences between Costa Rica and Turkey lay on what strategy that they used to implemented sustainable tourism development in their country. Costa Rica more emphasized their strategy in building an image as a good and peaceful country. This effort boosted by unceasingly promotion to the other countries in the world.
Whereas Turkey more emphasized their strategy on how to used local communities power as supporter of sustainable tourism development. Because Turkey is a country that rich of tradition, values, history, and culture. Turkish government wants to keep their culture as tourism traction.
V. Conclusion
Both of Costa Rica and Turkey already success to implemented the sustainable tourism development concept in their country. They proven to be consistent with their efforts to make a sustainable tourism development without damage the environment. Tourism business became an important economic pillar in both countries. This is why Costa Rica and Turkey looks so serious handle the sustainable tourism development. Although there are several diferences strategies between Costa Rica and Turkey, overall they already take the best way to develop their tourism business. Costa Rica and Turkey create a strategy to fulfill the sustainable development concept with the adjustment to their own values, culture, and tradition.