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The C. S.T. - Certification in Sustainable Tourism Program [Costa Rica]
What CST is all about
It is a program that seeks to categorize and certify each tourism
company according to the degree to which its operations comply to a
model of sustainability. To this effect, four fundamental aspects are
evaluated:
The
program of Certification for Sustainable Tourism of the costa Rican
Tourist Board, is an excellent tool to assist in the sustainable
development of the country.
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Alvaro Ugalde, Founder of the Costa Rican National Parks System
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- Physical-biological parameters
Evaluates the interaction between the company and its surrounding natural habitat.
- Infrastructure and services
Evaluates the management policies and the operational systems within the company and its infrastructure.
- External clients
Evaluates the interaction of the company with its clients in terms of
how much it allows and invites the client to be an active contributor
to the company's policies of sustainability.
- Socio-economic environment
Evaluates the interaction of the company with the local communities and the population in general.
For each and every one of these items a list of specific questions
was designed to help evaluate how thoroughly the firm complies with a
series of standards previously established for the social,
environmental and economics fields. Each and every one of the questions
refers to an element of sustainability with which the firm should
comply in order to qualify in any one of the different stages or levels
of fulfillment, which for our purposes we have labeled "levels". The
final rating will be assigned to the company in question according to
the lowest  level achieved in any of the four fields evaluated.
To measure and fix these different levels, the CST program
provides a system of "sustainability levels"", on a scale of 0 to 5, in
which each number indicates the relative position of the firm in terms
of sustainability. This scheme provides a way to classify the tourist
firms in terms of "levels " in a system very similar to the commercial
categorization of hotels by means of the well known stars system.
If the first level of a category is achieved (level 1) this means
that the firm has taken the first step on the road or process of
sustainability. The higher levels correspond to stages that are each
one more advanced than the previous one, peaking on level of level 5,
which means that the company is considered as outstanding in terms of
sustainability.
The following table shows the correlation between the levels and the percentage of attained:
| Level |
% attained |
| 0 |
<20 |
| 1 |
20-39 |
| 2 |
40-59 |
| 3 |
60-79 |
| 4 |
80-9 |
| 5 |
>95 |
In terms of sustainability, the degree of fulfillment signified by
each level should be concomitant with the different aspects mentioned.
For example, to achieve a level 3 category, it is necessary to complete
at least with 60% of the established conditions for the four areas
evaluated.
The level assigned to any firm will always be the lowest level
achieved in any of the areas. It is expected that this policy will
encourage the firms to advance towards the model of sustainability by
giving the same degree of consideration and importance to each of the
four areas evaluated. Although the program has been designed for all
types of companies in the tourism industry, the first stage will
include only the lodging companies. Within this group, the program will
generate a clear differentiation between the hotels according to the
level achieved.
The CST system is designed to include a series of incentives that
will increase in benefits for each company, in direct proportion to its
increased rating. This means that as the rating increases, more and
better benefits will be received; international and national publicity
and promotion, specifically designed for the CST; training for its
personnel; priority participation in various world tourism fairs and
events, etc.
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TF: Sustain. Tourism 
