Cahuita (Costa Rica), a tourist destination beyond the circular economy

Abstract

This work analyzes the conditions of the Cahuita community in terms of marketing of raw materials, products and services offered to tourists, travelers or visitors. It is important to highlight that this town was formed mainly by fishermen and farmers, which led to it becoming a rural community tourist destination that at the same time congests the Cahuita National Park, evidencing a series of characteristics that resemble the circular economy. These particularities make this destination attractive to people because it maintains ancestral traditions of indigenous and Afro-descendant culture. The objective of this work is to present the form of commercialization and barter (exchange is the form used by the tourism sector), that the Cahuita people have with tourism entrepreneurs to strengthen the economy from the tourism approach. The methodology is participatory, and is oriented towards case studies. The population is made up of 245 members of the Cahuita community. The main results are that some types of musaceae, tubers from the region, fruits, among others, are harvested from homes, which become raw materials for tourism businesses and the homes themselves. The main conclusion is that the members of the community are active suppliers of businesses dedicated to tourism and favor the local economy because income from tourism is democratized to other sectors such as commerce in general and the different audiences that live in the Community. from Cahuita, Limón, Costa Rica.