ARA Tours – Costa Rica

Costa Rica is considered a pioneer in sustainable tourism. The foundation was already laid in the 1970s with the creation of the first national parks – today, more than 30% of the country’s land area is protected. A key element is the CST sustainability certificate (Certificate for Sustainable Tourism), which is awarded by the Costa Rican Tourism Board ICT.

ARA Tours is CST-certified and consistently aligns its corporate strategy with these recognised sustainability standards. Many hotels, destination agencies, car rental companies and tourism services in Costa Rica are also certified. On our platform, users can specifically search for and filter sustainable and CST-certified products.

ARA Tours considers the environmental, economic and social impact of its business, both in the present and in the future; therefore, it implements measures to maintain the positive impacts and reduce the undesired impact triggered by its operations and contracted suppliers.

The certification obtained as Basic level is the result of the recognition given to us for taking into consideration, within our operation, the impact within the environment in which we operate and all the actions we carry out to mitigate the impacts on the social, cultural, environmental and economic aspect in the different tourist regions not only today but also over time.

As part of this policy, we´ve made a good practice manual which has been developed in the office, which includes a series of recommendations and implementations in some areas, such as waste management, use of power, management and consumption of water and use of material resources.

In addition, ARA Tours is fully committed with important national laws and frequently we inform our compliance to our staff and clients.

In addition, our guides and drivers are properly aware of good practices during passenger care, for which the company has developed the best practices guide for guides and drivers.

We are aware that our actions have an impact, both on the environment and on those we relate to. Therefore, in order to improve our environmental, social, and economic performance, we have implemented the necessary mechanisms in Sustainable Management, which are being reviewed periodically.

With this, we aim to: Adopt the necessary measures to avoid or minimize the environmental and social impacts of our activities that are negative. Manage the organization in a sustainable way, so that it is respectful both with humans and with the environment.