Students Travel to Costa Rica to Study Ecotourism

 

During Spring Break, Economics Assistant Professor Andrew Meyer, along with Professor Alice Simon, took 11 students to Costa Rica to study ecotourism as part of the Sustainability, Ecotourism, and Eco-Certification travel-learning course. Students spent nine days traveling through Monteverde, Playa Grande, and Playa Samara, getting a firsthand look at successful ecotourism destinations and contrasting them with experiences in more environmentally destructive destinations within Costa Rica. During the trip, students also had the opportunity to hike, zip-line, snorkel, and learn about the local wildlife of the regions.

“I had been to Costa Rica several times previously so I was familiar with the country and its conservation efforts,” said Dr. Meyer. “I teach environmental economics, but there are many topics such as ecotourism and eco-certification that we don't have time to cover in the environmental econ class. This was an opportunity to cover these topics with students from a broad spectrum of majors and interests and see the concepts in practices with a trip to Costa Rica.”

To prepare for the trip, students learned about the current and past political, environmental, social, and economic issues of Costa Rica. This history, combined with what students learned about general eco-tourism in class through discussion and readings gave them a comprehensive background for the trip. Dr. Meyer hoped that these on-the-ground experiences with eco-tourism in Costa Rica would help students “formulate what they think the important factors are in determining whether an ecotourism project succeeds or fails, both environmentally and economically.”

“I decided to take this class because I wanted to learn more about ecotourism,” said Alex McCarty, a junior economics management major. “I was also interested in the economic side of ecotourism and how much it could help a country’s economy.”