臺灣博碩士論文加值系統

This thesis intends to analyze the Ecotourism Industry in Costa Rica given the fact that it has become an industry that represents a significant portion of the Gross Domestic Product for this country in the latest years. In order to perform this analysis, various aspects will be carefully described and analyzed such as the geographical, environmental, socio-political and economical characteristics of Costa Rica and the promotion and advertising strategies which have been used by major players of the industry such as the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo- ICT (Costa Rica Tourism board) , the National Camera of Tourism of Costa Rica (CANATUR), The National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC), and some private tour operators in order to promote the industry internationally and attract ecotourists worldwide. The theoretical framework used to perform this analysis will be based on advertising and promotion theories by Phillip Kottler and Kevin Keller, and strategy theories by D. Besanko, D. Dranove, M. Stanley and S. Schaefer. Statistics related to the industry will be evaluated as well in order to analyze briefly what has been the evolution of the industry in Costa Rica.

List of Figures 3
Abstract 4

Chapter 1: Introduction 6
1.1 Research Background 6
1.1.1 Ecotourism definition 6
1.2 Research Objectives 6
1.3 Research Scope 7

Chapter 2: Literature review 8
2.1 Advertising and promotion 8
2.1.1 Advertising 8
2.1.2 Promotion 13
2.2 Strategic Positioning: Broad Coverage versus Focus Strategies 15
2.2.1 Broad Coverage Strategies 15
2.2.2 Focus Strategies 16
2.3 Tourism Definition 16
2.3.1 Conceptual definitions 16
2.3.2 Operational and technical definitions 17
2.4 Ecotourism principles and types 18
2.4.1 The Principles of Ecotourism 18
2.4.2 Types of Ecotourism 19

Chapter 3: Methodology 21
3.1 Research Strategy 21
3.2 Research Method 21

Chapter 4: Industry Analysis and Results 23
4 .1 Costa Rica: General Characteristics 23
4.1.1 Geographical and environmental characteristics 23
4.1.2 Socio-Political Characteristics 24
4.1.3 Economical Characteristics 26
4.2 Industry Background 28
4.2.1 Significance and Relevance 28
4.2.2 Origin, history and evolution 39
4.2.3 Recent Developments 40
4.3 Industry Fundamentals 41
4.3.1 Sectors and Services 41
4.3.2 Major Players 45
4.4 Future Challenges 70




Chapter 5: Conclusions and discussions 72
5.1 Major findings 72
5.1.1 Country profile’s factors of success 72
5.1.2 Contribution of the industry major players 73
5.2 Research Limitations 75

APPENDIX 76
References 85

Besanko D., Dranove D., Shanley M., Schaefer S. (2004), “Economics of Strategy” , John Wiley & Sons Inc, pp402-408.

Biesanz Richard, Biesanz Zubris Karen, Hiltunen Mavis (1999), “The Ticos: Culture and Social Change in Costa Rica”, Lynne Rienner Publishers, pp 1, 13, 65-98.

Boza Mario. A (1986), “Costa Rica National Parks”, Incafo S.A.

Boo, E. (1990) “Ecotourism: the potentials and pitfalls”, vol.2, World Wildlife Fund, Washington D.C USA

Boukart. A.J , Medlik. S (1974) “Tourism. Past, Present and Future”, Heineman

Gilbert, D.C (1990), “Conceptual issues in the meaning of tourism in C.P Cooper (ed)”, Pitman Publishing

Hawkings, D.E (1994) “Ecotourism: opportunities for developing countries. In: Theobald”, W.F (e.d), Global tourism the next decade pp. 261-273

Honey Martha (1999), “Ecotourism and sustainable development: Who owns paradise?” Island Press, pp.3-4, 132-175.

Kotler Philip, Keller Kevin Lane (2006), “Marketing Management 12 e”, Pearson Education, pp.526-549

Norbert Vanhove (2005), “The economics of tourism destinations”, Elsevier Ltd. pp. 1-5

McKercher,B. (1998) “Matching products with markets: essential to survival and a source to competitive advantage”. pp. 179-192

Merriam, S.B. (1994), “Dallstudien som forskningsmetod”. Lund: Studentlitteratur

Morrison, A. (1996) “Hospitality and Travel Marketing”, 2nd Ed, Delmar publications.

National site of the System of Protected Wild Areas: http://www.sinac.go.cr/principal.php

Rojas Manrique, Aylward Bruce (2003), “What are we learning from experiences with markets for environmental services in Costa Rica?” Environmental Economics Program, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), pp. 57-60

Teitelbaum Harry (1982), “How to write a Thesis, a guide to the research paper”, Monarch Press, pp3

The Costa Rica Tourism Board Web Page: http://www.visitcostarica.com/ict/paginas/ict.asp

The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2006, www.eiu.com, “Costa Rica Profile”

The National Camera of Tourism of Costa Rica Web Page: http://www.canatur.org/ingles/infgeneral.htm

Weaver David B. (2001) “The Encyclopedia of Ecotourism”, CABI Publishing, pp 5-23, 573-574, 525-526