Hotel Nantipa – A Tico Beach Experience has been awarded the Elite Level of Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT). The highest level of sustainability certification, the award recognizes Hotel Nantipa’s longstanding commitment to holistic sustainability, supporting the environmental, economic, and cultural well-being of Costa Rica.
Located in Santa Teresa on Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula, one of five Blue Zones across the globe, Hotel Nantipa is a boutique hotel dedicated to the long-term viability of the community in which it resides. It exemplifies the top standards of sustainability as outlined by the ICT and recognized by the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Hotel Nantipa promotes traditions and customs of Costa Rica, employs residents of the local community, consumes biodegradable products and recycles those that can be reused, implements programs for saving water and electricity on its premises, and handles waste as to not create a negative environmental impact. Examples of this commitment include: founding the local Chamber of Tourism; focusing on local producers and small businesses for purchasing products and development; launching initiatives like the “10 Minute Beach Clean-Up” where guests are invited to spend ten minutes on the beach picking up micro-plastic residue carried in by the tides, raising awareness of the effects of single use plastic pollution on our oceans; and cutting only six trees during the building process and reusing the wood for in-room furniture. Key sustainability partners in the area include the Nicoya Peninsula Waterkeeper and Cirenas, a local NGO committed to environmental and wildlife conservation.
“We are honored to receive this prestigious award,” says Harry Hartman, Owner and General Manager of Hotel Nantipa. “The Hotel Nantipa family has worked hard to develop and maintain sustainable practices wherever possible, and we look forward to building upon our current practices to educate guests from around the world about the benefits of sustainable and regenerative tourism.”
ICT is the governing tourism entity in Costa Rica, guaranteeing a supportive and equitable sustainable tourism development model. The main purpose of the CST is to turn the concept of sustainability into something real, practical, and necessary in the context of tourism competitiveness in the country, trying to improve the way in which natural and social resources are used, promote an active participation of local communities, and provide a new support for the competitiveness of the entrepreneurial sector. Sustainable tourism development must be seen as the balanced intention to appropriately use natural and cultural resources, to improve the quality of life of local communities, and to obtain economic success in the activity, which will also contribute to national development. For the CST, the ICT evaluates business management; social, economic, and cultural impact; and the effect produced by the organization’s operation on the environment, among other sector-specific indicators. In addition, Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) named Nantipa as one of the premier environmentally sustainable luxury properties featured in the “SLH Considerate Collection”.
