RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article T1 Cruise tourism and community economic development in Central America and the Caribbean: The case of Costa Rica A1 Seidl, Andy A1 Guiliano, Fiorella A1 Pratt, Lawrence K1 Cruise ship tourism K1 Economic development K1 Costa Rica AB This paper illustrates an economic approach to understanding the cruise tourism industry as a driver ofeconomic development in Costa Rica. The objective is to describe the role and activities of the cruise ship industryand identify sources of economic benefit and cost such that more informed local policy decisions about the cruiseship tourism might be made. For example, our analysis indicates: the cruise tourism industry competes with thecargo shipping industry for port space at a significant cost to Costa Rican ports; the amount of money injected intothe local economy per cruise tourist is substantially lower than for other types of tourism; Cruise ships purchaserelatively few supplies in Costa Rica; Cruise ships generate a great deal of human waste, water and air pollution,which can create a serious health hazard, cleanup costs, and which are not commensurate with other types of tourismdevelopment available to Costa Rica; Decision makers may want to consider that investment in cruise tourismfriendly ports may be less efficient from a national perspective than investment in infrastructure (e.g., airports) toincrease more profitable types of tourism; And leaders may want to consider the encouragement of smaller “pocket”cruises over the current cruise version of mass tourism. This approach should be applicable to communities wherevercruise tourism currently exists or is under consideration to be included in the portfolio of community economicactivities. PB Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Politicas y Sociales. Universidad de La Laguna (Tenerife, España) SN 1695-7121 YR 2006 FD 2006 LK http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/17882 UL http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/17882 LA en DS Repositorio institucional de la Universidad de La Laguna RD 24-abr-2024