According to the World Tourism Organization, gastronomy is becoming one of the most important incentives for travel, and countries should have strategies put in place to strengthen the quality, variety and uniqueness of the autonomous products of their destination.
With those statistics in mind, the Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT), along with the Costa Rican Chamber of Restaurants (CACORE) and the National Institute of Biodiversity (INBio), have announced the second phase of their National Plan for Healthy and Sustainable Food.
Developed as a new strategy which will improve the country’s competitiveness as a travel destination, the plan will help promote its gastronomic products and highlight its national heritage.
The program’s purpose is to promote Costa Rican cuisine as sustainable, considering social, environmental and economic aspects in all phases of the production, marketing and service. The program not only assists in training culinary establishment’s staff on how to prepare traditional dishes, but places high emphasis in using local plants, vegetables and fruits for the recipes.
“Here at the ICT, we are extremely proud of our national cuisine and even more proud to showcase it to the world via our tourism sector,” said Alejandro Castro Alfaro, director of marketing for the Costa Rica Tourism Board. “The National Plan for Healthy and Sustainable Food was created to further support this idea as well as the Sustainable Tourism National Plan.”
Costa Rica’s tropical location offers many exotic fruits and vegetables that are included in local cuisine and drinks. Rice and black beans are also a staple of most traditional Costa Rican meals, often served three times a day. On the Caribbean coast, it’s jerk chicken, seafood, and rice and beans dishes.
In January 2015, ICT issued its first ever Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) for gastronomy to five restaurants that are raising the bar for truly authentic, sustainable cuisine. The tourism board also plans to developing gastronomical festivals to further support the Traditional Gastronomy Program.
