More than 20 hotels in the tourist area of La Fortuna, in the province of Alajuela, San Carlos, at the foot of Arenal Volcano, joined the Energy Efficiency Program in Tourism (PEEST by its Spanish acronym) where women have a decisive role.

This project has trained about 350 people involved in the hotel industry for a period of two and a half years and where nearly half of the attendees were women.

The technical part includes training on efficient use of air conditioning systems, lighting, refrigeration, or operating instructions for systems like solar water heating or drying clothes, run by the Fundación de Red de Energía (BUN-CA) in a total of 16 workshops.

The PEEST program has the financial support of the United Nations Development Units (UNDP), the Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries-HIVOS and FundeCooperación for Sustainable Development.