Sustainable Costa Rican tourist enterprises will now be entitled for a European certification, issued by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.
The international certification, known as TourCert is based on international standards of quality and environmental management including EMAS and ISO, specifically the ISO 26000 guide for social responsibility. The certification was developed in Germany.
Günter Koschwitz, board member of TourCert in Germany, said that this tool allows all stakeholders and interest groups associated with tourism to be integrated into sustainable practices, corporate social responsibility and quality. This certification is the result of a contract between TourCert and the Costa Rican company Reinventing Business For All (RBA), which will lead the certification process in Central America and the Caribbean.
The system has a certified tourist community of over 200 companies, most of them from Germany, Switzerland and Austria. It makes it easy for tourist establishments to conduct a comprehensive analysis of all aspects of sustainability, determine priorities and make continuous improvements.
