Abstract

Much has been said about the impact of tourism in Guanacaste; while some consider it the engine which has helped the province to grow, others claim that its benefits are not the result of the work of tourism operators. Economic impact studies of tourism have been previously carried out; however, up until now no study has been able to measure the perception people from Guanacaste has about it. This is the first quantitative approach study, with a representative sample of 640 people from all over the province, which answers the following question: what is the opinion of residents in Guanacaste about the impact of tourism on their communities? This paper also compares this opinion according to different sociodemographic variables, and presents the benefits and problems attributed to tourism.

Key words: Tourism; perception; Guanacaste; economy; Costa Rica;