Q & A with Carlos Fonseca, General Manager of the Costa Rica Natural Travel and Deputy President of the Central American Tour Operators Organization

The Central American Tour Operators Organization (CTO) is a relatively young association that gathers a group of companies from the region’s countries and moves some 100 tourists a month to the alternative segments of historical and cultural travel, as well as ecotourism -a growing market that’s all the rage in Costa Rica. Caribbean News Digital talked exclusively with one of CTO’s top-brass execs.

Q.- Can you briefly recount the history and main goals of the Central American Tour Operators Organization?
A.- CTO is a project that came into being this year in El Salvador within the framework of the First Forum of Central American Tour Operators. It came to life with a view to make it easier for wholesalers from Europe and other continents to get in touch with Central American companies.

In the past, if a wholesaler or a tourist wanted to mount a travel package, they had to contact companies from each and every country. That’s over now and with just one single contact and just one payment, a call or an email, the entire travel plan can be arranged. As CTO, we guarantee service quality. We gather a number of certified companies from each and every one of our nations, we have known one another for quite some time, and all of us try to do our best the best way we know how to deliver top-quality products and services.

Q.- Your organization has picked this acronym, CTO, which is the same used by an entity that’s very close to us, the Caribbean Tourism Organization. As a matter of fact, CTO is the international brand that identified that organization around the world.
A.- Quite honestly, I wasn’t aware of that. We even registered our group under that name and I hope there won’t be any problems or conflicts in the future.

Q.- How many employees do your tour companies have?
A.- We’re all small businesspeople; I can’t handle exact figure, but these are companies that employ some ten people each. That’s a ballpark figure that could sway from four to ten employees, but if you count the guides, the drivers, the assistants, then the figure might add up between ten and fifteen employees, some twenty people tops.

Q.- How many tourists do all of you move together?
A.- I don’t have an exact figure on that, either. At least, here in the country, we’re moving approximately 1,200 tourists a year. In the case of my company, I must say this is a mom-and-pop business that operates an average of 100 tourists a month. We don’t work with massive tourism.

Q.- You’re also the general manager of Costa Rican Natural Travel. What’s the main strength of that organization within your country’s market?
A.- Here in Costa Rica tourism and sustainable development are top-priority issues. Right now, we’re working on a number of guidelines and regulations that will help us apply the best sustainable ways possible, not only for the sake of green tourism, but also in a bid to help travelers pick the perfect environment-friendly trips in the market.

This is nationwide policy rather than the initiative of a bunch of companies, so that means both the government and the local tourism authorities are involved in this process. In the case of Costa Rica, this policy gives the country a competitive edge over other Central American nations due to the tremendous experience and expertise of our travel industry experts.

From an environmental standpoint, Costa Rica continues to be one of the world’s leading ecotourism countries and intends to have a much better scorecard in that particular field. Ecotourism gives way to sustainable tourism, and for Costa Rica’s travel industry that’s really the name of the game.