r:travel, Responsible Tourism Awards magazine by Alex Lyons

In what was a new category this year, one firm stood head and shoulders above the other nominees – a tribute to the hard work of its founder and the wife he picked up along the way!

uresh and Christine Krishnan have been working in the outdoors most of their adult lives – and it was their shared love of adventure that brought them together in 2001. Christine was leading a GAP Adventurers group through Central America; arriving at La Fortuna, Costa Rica at the base of the Arenal volcano, the group went rafting with Desafio, an adventure pursuits company run by Indian-born Californian Suresh. Christine loved the experience so much she married the company! Working together, the couple have built up the company started by Suresh in 1992, and today it is a sustainable, thriving business with strong roots in the local economy and also a second office in Monteverde. In the past two years they have doubled the number of employees, from 30 to 62, and paid off their outstanding bank loans. Coming off the back of a six-year stint in the US army, Suresh – nicknamed the ‘Gangsta Kayaker’ – began Desafio as a one-man show, when adventure tourism was in its infancy in Costa Rica. He pioneered rafting in the Arenal area, doing first descents of many local rivers and rapids. Besides whitewater rafting, Desafio now runs canyoneering, horse and mountain bike riding, birdwatching, kayaking, volunteering and conservation programmes. Suresh and Christine are proud of the strong ties they have with the La Fortuna community, but, as Christine notes, growing the business has been

hard at times – they even had to literally build their own bridges for two of the tours, which has in turn opened up access for locals, too. ‘There were times when Desafio struggled to get community support and acceptance. It’s been a challenge to encourage the local population to allow their children to work in adventure activities, given that so many were raised on farms and had many responsibilities at home. Plus, they had a certain fear of adventure activities and had never been introduced to tourism. ‘Suresh was really the first one to see the potential for adventure tourism. In many regards, it was seen as both a threat and a distraction. After Desafío started with rafting and horseback riding tours, other businesses chose to promote nature tours and saw adventure tours as a threat. Desafío did not see nature and adventure as mutually exclusive and has since developed both aspects.’ Continues Suresh: ‘However, feelings have changed dramatically in the past five years. The local economy gets much more money from rafting than any other tourism activity and the community is now starting to embrace the adventure culture of their town. ‘Tourism in Costa Rica has grown and as a result our company has grown with it. Our business model is to create strong business alliances with our vendors – we look for ways to give back to the people who give us business. For example, if a hotel concierge sends us people to go on a tour, we try hard to put people in that hotel. ‘It is interesting that with the recent downturn in the economy and tourism in general, the local community now

looks toward Desafío for leadership. Many other businesses in town and especially hotels are facing severe crises and are on the verge of losing their businesses due to heavy bank loans. We are sharing with them the lessons we have learnt.’ Desafio is now building an Olympic training facility for Costa Rican kayakers, and will work with local schools to use the facility to introduce the sport into their curriculum. ‘Kids who raft and kayak have a greater appreciation of their natural environment – especially rivers,’ says Christine. Adds Suresh: It is overwhelmingly satisfying to know that after 18 years of building my company I don’t have to be in the office everyday to make decisions. I can enjoy more family time with our new baby Marley, which in the end gives me the most pleasure and satisfaction.’ www.desafiocostarica.com WHAT THE JUDGES SAID This Costa Rican adventure tourism operator is awarded for an investment in local people that goes beyond the benefits to their tourism business. An income of £1.2 million annually from 15,000 passengers allows Desafio to support their staff in their own local entrepreneurial initiatives – helping their guides to buy photographic equipment, drivers to buy vehicles,, and even supporting the office manager in developing her own website. They show that the benefits of local tourism can have lasting effects on local livelihoods.