Hiperfrecuentación turística en áreas protegidas y sus zonas de influencia: estudio de caso en Costa Rica

Abstract

Tourist visitation in protected areas has experienced steady growth in recent decades. For countries that rely heavily on nature-based tourism, having high visitation statistics is synonymous with success, which is why the negative impacts generated by tourism are often minimized. The main objective of this study was to assess from different approaches the implications of tourism overcrowding in the conservation model of Costa Rica and particularly in Manuel Antonio National Park. Multiple research methods and techniques were applied from the mixed approach (surveys, Delphi, case study, literature review, spatial analysis, among others) that allowed to collect and analyze the information to answer the research questions. The results are organized in eight chapters: 1) Introduction, 2) Theoretical and methodological foundations, 3) Implications of nature-based tourism in Costa Rica from the perspective of Recreational Ecology, 4) Spatio-temporal patterns of tourist frequentation in the system of protected areas of Costa Rica, 5) Indicators of tourist overcrowding in protected areas and areas of influence, 6) Manuel Antonio National Park as a case study of tourism overcrowding, 7) Tourist behavior and dynamics of domestic tourism in times of COVID-19 and 8) Conclusions.

Date of Award	8 Sept 2022
Original language	Spanish
Supervisor	Carlos Alfredo Barriocanal Lozano (Director), Jordina Belmonte Soler (Tutor) & Carrillo Jiménez, Eduardo (Director)