San Jose Airport

After a long and adventure filled week in Costa Rica, we headed back to the Juan Santamaria airport located in downtown San Jose on January 19^th to fly back to Bryant.  I can honestly say our class had an amazing experience the last few days and we learned a lot about how Costa Rica takes steps to significantly reduce waste, toxicity, and consumption of resources in their country.  We noticed this at every hotel, restaurant, and tour we visited including the airport upon arrival and departure.  When it comes to responsible travel, local tours aren’t just about going green; they’re about sustainability.  In tourism terms, sustainable travel is local travel.  It means interacting with local communities and spreading your tourism dollars to Costa Rica.

              

         What I found very interesting in one of the ways the San Jose airport stays sustainable is their Nature Air travel airline, which offers flights throughout Costa Rica and Central America only.  Nature Air is the world’s first carbon-neutral airline, and has been recognized in the Corporate Sustainable Standard-Setters category.  This award is given to those companies that have worked with the Rainforest Alliance and exhibited outstanding leadership in efforts to promote sustainability.  Nature Air voluntarily compensates 100% of its carbon emissions through preservation of tropical rain forests.  This airline also attracts tourists with their panoramic windows, which offers stunning scenic views of Costa Rica from thousands of feet in the air.  Due to this, Nature Air has turned into one of the premiere airlines in Cost Rica for eco-tourism and sustainability.

Macy doing her part by recycling

                The San Jose airport is making strides in transferring their transportation methods such as buses and rental cars to become carbon-neutral as well.  By having carbon-neutral methods of transportation to choose from when planning your vacation, travelers will be able to enjoy their stay while also bettering the environment.  Also, one thing within the airport I noticed that was present throughout our trip in Costa Rica was the amount of recycling bins everywhere.  Recycling and waste is a prevalent theme and important issue for many Costa Ricans, so there were several recycling bins placed throughout the airport to separate plastic, paper, and aluminum.  Many of these recycling bins were provided by the Nature Air airline as a part of their corporate sustainability efforts which I found very impressive. 

                As we can see, just like many individuals and companies in Costa Rica, the San Jose airport strives to offer responsible tourism and eco-friendly means of travel.  It was bittersweet arriving at the airport on the last day, because as long as our days were, I definitely had one of the best experiences of my life and can’t wait to have the chance to return to Costa Rica!

Fun Fact:  Our Marketing Sustainability class ran into a former Bryant Alum, Matt Wilson, who graduated from Bryant in 2008 and now owns his own travel company in Costa Rica!

Selfie with Bryant Alum in the Costa Rica aiport

PURA VIDA COSTA RICA

You can learn more about our travels by following our class twitter @BryantMKT421! 

-Cassie Tracey (@cassietracey12)