TOURISM PLANNING IN RURAL COMMUNITIES: THE CASE OF ISLA DE CHIRA, CORRAL DE PIEDRA AND SAN JUAN IN THE GULF AND PENINSULA OF NICOYA, COSTA RICA

Abstract

As an essential activity within the economy of Costa Rica since the 1980s, tourism has contributed to the development of diverse communities throughout the country. Despite the importance of the tourist activity, many local governments have not implemented territorial planning instruments such as the regulatory plan, or at the sectoral level, plans such as those for tourism development to promote the progress of the activity.In order to support local communities in the implementation of tourism activities, this paper sets out as an objective to present a proposal for tourism planning for the communities of Isla de Chira, Corral de Piedra, and San Juan, located in the Gulf of Nicoya and the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica. For this, a planning strategy is applied to allow delimiting tourist areas in those communities. Based on the analysis of the tourist system, the vocation of tourist resources is established, the tourist demand and offer are characterized, and the main actors associated with the activity in the area are identified to pinpoint the homogenizing elements of space that allow proposing areas for tourism planning.