Costa Rican Rural Tourism Association (ACTUAR, for its acronyms in Spanish) is formed by 35 members that belong to the rural community INSS and tours.

They met in 2001 to promote environmental, social, cultural, and economic development of the participant communities by providing true experiences to the visitors.

ACTUAR specializes on the implementation of authentic adventures to experience in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is one of the first countries in Central America that, in the early 90s, started the development of rural tourism. This was accomplished through the creation of networks that encourage the use of agro-ecotourism goods produced in the community. Nowadays this is known as Rural-Community Tourism.

Cooprena supports promotion and commercialization of other tourism companies in the country, offering a variety of possibilities for reservation with more than 40 alternative companies.

Protection of the inheritance and respect for the culture and local communities

It is intended to motivate tourists towards social consciousness to defend our cultural legacies and promote access to different rural communities in order to benefit them by using all their resources and contribute to their economical development.

Recommendations:

• Do not take any piece found on the surroundings, since it may be a piece of archaeological and cultural heritage.
• Respect the rights, customs, and values of the communities and their surroundings.
• Do not participate on illegal commercialization. Always buy crafts and products that have no regulation: coconut, legal wood, and natural fibers.

We recommend visiting the museums in the capital, San José, in order to learn more about the Costa Rican historical background. Here you can find some museums you can visit:

Information about Costa Rica´s Museums

• Jade Museum




• Costa Rica National Museum




• Costa Rican Arts Museum




• Central Bank Museum (Pre-Colombian Gold Museum)




• Children’s Museum




• Juan Santamaria Museum (in Alajuela)




• Regional Museum from the Province of Limon

Travel Excellence, as a creator of the project “Friends of the National Parks”, has sponsored these institutions with donations that contribute with their improvement and help the surrounding areas.

Pro-Parques

It is a non-profit organization whose only clients are Costa Rica´s national parks.

They develop a series of PROGRAMS that look after the development and sustainability of the parks as well as the professionalization of the rangers. They provide strategies, technology, and implementation to the Sistema de Parques Nacionales, an office responsible for National Parks in Costa Rica.

Caribbean Conservation Corporation

It is a nonprofit organization whose main headquarters are located in Florida. This organization has offices and projects in different places. The CCA is the oldest and most successful organization for the conservation of sea turtles around the world. Since its foundation in 1959, the labor of CCA has enhanced different perspectives for the survival of many species of turtles.

Travel Excellence supports this organization since 2007 through monitoring and studying of the turtle species named “Mango”

Fundación Paniamor

It is a non-profit technical private organization. Its main efforts are preventive, and it does not have any political tendency. The organization was created in 1987 and was declared of public interest for the country in 1989.

The project ‘’Código de Conducta’’ (Code of Conduct) is a strategy for enterprises who want to be part of the social responsibility of the country. The institution´s intention is to report any case of sexual and commercial exploitation of children and adolescents.

Rainforest Alliance

It works on the conservation of biodiversity. It ensures sustainable livelihoods by transforming land use practices, business practices, and consumer behavior.