La Cusinga Eco Lodge Uvita, Costa Ballena, Osa, Costa Rica
We look hard at teh Social and Ecological impact of our day to day business, not only our Economics. To educate our schools, our staff, to promote recyclying, sustainable agriculture, reforestation, to make the visit of our guest a great educational experience and to make a positive impact on them, our community and our world.
About You
Contact Information
Title
mr.
First name
geinier
Last name
guzman
Your job title
general manager
Name of your organization
La Cusinga Eco Lodge
Organization type
Tourism, business
Annual budget/currency
Annual Budget/Currency
Mailing address
apdo 533-8000 san isidro de pz costa rica
Telephone number
50627702549
Postal/Zip Code
Country
Costa Rica
Email address
Alternative email address
Your idea
This will be the address used to plot your entry on the map.
Street Address
200 South of KM mark 166, costanera sur
City
Uvita
State/Province
puntarenas
Postal/Zip Code
Country
Costa Rica
Geotourism Challenge Addressed by Entrant
Quality of tourist experience and educational benefit to tourists , Quality of benefit to residents for the destination , Quality of tourism management by destination leadership , Quality of stewardship of the destination.
Organization size
Small (1 to 100 employees)
Indicate sector in which you principally work
Tourism-related business
Year innovation began
2004
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Indicate sector in which you principally work
Living culture, Nature, Adventure.
Name Your Project
La Cusinga Eco Lodge Uvita, Costa Ballena, Osa, Costa Rica
Describe Your Idea
We look hard at teh Social and Ecological impact of our day to day business, not only our Economics. To educate our schools, our staff, to promote recyclying, sustainable agriculture, reforestation, to make the visit of our guest a great educational experience and to make a positive impact on them, our community and our world.
IDB/Fomin
Si perteneces a un pais de Latinoamerica y el Caribe tienes la oportunidad de presentar tu iniciativa para acceder a fondos para innovaciones en turismo sostenible del BID/FOMIN (para mayor informacion leer la seccion sobre la oportunidad BID/FOMIN en la pagina principal del Desafio).
Deseo postularme.
Si perteneces a un pais de Latinoamerica y el Caribe tienes la oportunidad de presentar tu iniciativa para acceder a fondos para innovaciones en turismo sostenible del BID/FOMIN (para mayor informacion leer la seccion sobre la oportunidad BID/FOMIN en la pagina principal del Desafio).
Consumidores (viajeros), Operadores de Turismo, Atractivos naturales y culturales.
Indica cuales de estas tematicas cubre tu innovacion (elige todas aquellas opciones que apliquen)
Planificación y Gestión de destinos, Profesionalización, buenas prácticas y certificación de servicios turísticos sostenibles, Estrategias y herramientas innovadoras para la promoción y puesta en mercado de destinos y productos en turismo sostenible y geoturismo..
Innovation
What is the goal of your innovation? Please describe in one sentence the kind of impact, change, or reform your approach is intended to achieve.
to educate tourist, reduce impact in the local culture, envioronment. Protect Ballena Marine National Park. Promote Sustainable Business.
Please write an overview of your project. Include how your approach supports or embodies geotourism or destination stewardship. This text will appear when people scroll over the icon for your entry on the map located on the competition homepage.
We look hard at teh Social and Ecological impact of our day to day business, not only our Economics. To educate our schools, our staff, to promote recyclying, sustainable agriculture, reforestation, to make the visit of our guest a great educational experience and to make a positive impact on them, our community and our world.
Explain in detail why your approach is innovative
Our bottom line ins green, not money, but to us the biggest profit is to see the positive impact that we have had and will have in the community, we are involved with all the schools in the area in educational programs that goes from our national park, waste management, organic gardening, to our approach to tourism, protection of our rainforest, reforestation projects, etc. The love for nature, our staff, our providers, and our guest. We have been protecting our area for more than 36 years. Educations and leading by example is our way. We have worked together with our communities, local and national government to promote the creations of national parks, protect our forest, water and local mangrooves... we do care for what we do... our bottom line is always green... nature!
Impact
Describe the degree of success you have had to date. How do you measure, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the impact on sustainability or enhancement of local culture, environment, heritage, or aesthetics? How has it transformed or contributed to the power of place or demonstrated the sustainability of tourism? How does your approach minimize negative impacts?
we see our impact by the number of trees we have, the number of people that love our place, the example that we have become and if you do an arial run, you can see the 250 hectares of green that stand next to a national park, and the red clay that is around it. the kilos of reclyed material, the love kids have when they visit, the impact on a community that was a fishing community and now makes lots of income from taking people to see whales... crazy idea... we see our impact when we see the number of species coming back, the return of big animals, the amount of nature that we see...
In what ways are local residents actively involved in your work, including participation and community input? How has the community responded to or benefited from your approach?
25 plus staff in the hotel and reforestation projects. more than 15 families directly involved. The schools come to our place, every year. the local national park is well connected with us. The push to create a national park has changed the community to have a more sustainable way of life. Our involvement in the local, national and international NGOs are positive for the people and nature. the community see that we do have an impact on them, for some positive for some negative. Those that love the destruction and want to destroy our mother earth to make aprofit than, yeap our impact is negative. but most cases it is a positive impact.
How does your program promote traveler enthusiasm, satisfaction, and engagement with the locale?
we promote our local cultures, from exchange of students groups with our schools, to our indian reservations, where they come to our place to promote their cultures and sale their products, to also collect from our land the natural colors that they use in their textilles. We hire only local people, as we are a local family.
Describe how your work helps travelers and local residents better understand the value of the area's cultural and natural heritage, and educates them on local environmental issues.
We promote our area at the hoptel, videos, info, talks that we give our groups. We are always pro active in the issues that impact our area. We are always promoting the issues in the website. We are not very cultural rich as teh Mayan, but we have our own history. And nature is our biggest asset, so it is in the interest of our commuinties to protect it.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How is your initiative currently financed? If available, provide information on your finances and organization that could help others. Please list: Annual budget, annual revenue generated, size of part-time, full-time and volunteer staff.
we finance our projects with our own money, and part of that money comes from the Eco hotel. It is a sustainable business at we work hard to promote and to let people know that the visit to our eco hotel is helping protect our communities, nature, our national parks and our efforts.
Is your initiative financially and organizationally sustainable? If not, what is required to make it so? Is there a potential demand for your innovation?
yes it is. but we can always do more with more money!
What are the main barriers you encounter in managing, implementing, or replicating your innovation? What barriers keep your program from having greater impact?
it is a people driven... it is an innovation of ideas... and if one does not believe than one will not make it.
What is your plan to expand or further develop your approach? Please indicate where/how you would like to grow or enhance your innovation, or have others do so.
so far we are active in making sure we can protect our area and increase that area to be a national effort.
The Story
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers' marketing material.
Geinier Guzman born jan 7th 1972. To a crazy family in the southern pacific coast of Costa Rica, in a town of Uvita. The ocean and the forest was my play ground. When to the USA for high school (BOlles HS in Jacksonville), undergrad in U of Miami, Grad School in Pepperdine in California. Worked for Samsung and also Capital One... a great experince. return home after 9-11. I have been working at La Cusinga Eco Lodge, family business... small eco lodge, next to Ballena marine National Park. A tree hugger and a proactive activist in Osa and the entire Costa Rica. WOrking to prevent the destruction of Osa and the rainforest.
What is the origin of your innovation? Tell the Changemakers and media communities what prompted you to start this initiative.
We have loved nature all of our lifes. We haven been always a crazy family. Planning trees 30 plus years ago, when most people where cutting down the forest for pastures, we protected the wild life when other killed it, we started a small hotel with hydro and solar electricity, hot water by the sun, to welcome guest to enjoy nature... no swimming pool, no AC, no TV... crazy idea... my father had a crazy idea to protect teh bay because of the corals, and the whales... a crazy idea... now it is the forst marine national park, and one of the few areas where both northern and southern humback whales come to give birth and the community makes a living from the tours... crazy idea... so i guess the origin of our innovation is our crazy love for nature.
Describe some unique tourist experiences that your approach provides. Be specific; give illustrative examples.
Hands on education, you can take parto fo reforestation, compost, gardening, beach clean up, etc. We educate our shcools kids, they love to learn about the community, the park, nature, and how you can make a profit from protecting nature. You are in a forest, and you can see the amrine park from our place.
What types of partnerships or professional development would be most beneficial in spreading your innovation?
Media coverage, we are very bad at documenting, marketing. We need more structure and more documentation on things... but to me the structure part takes aways from our crazy ways, as it will make it another structure venture.
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