Tourism Development Specialist - Volunteer Position - Onsite in Costa Rica • North America - 12 months
Peace Corps
United States
Posted on Mar 31, 2026
About The Project
Costa Rica is looking for professionals with a passion for sustainable tourism and community economic development to support their new tourism plans.
You will support a canton (similar to a county) southeast of downtown San José, the capital of Costa Rica. This municipality boasts a variety of attractions, including historic buildings, natural protected areas; breathtaking landscapes; sustainable farms, coffee, and sugar mills; farmers’ markets; and museums. However, the municipality currently lacks a robust tourism development plan to promote and utilize all these attractions. Their goal is to create a strategic plan for the canton and a gradual implementation phase where small businesses, farms, and cultural centers will be integrated. This participatory approach will result in shared goals and increased profits for the local stakeholders.
As a Tourism Development Specialist, you will collaborate with local stakeholders to assess, design, develop, and implement strategies to strengthen the canton's sustainable tourism. Alongside municipality workers, you will engage local businesses and community members to promote environmental and social sustainability.
Activities
How you and the community will make an impact together:
Design and pilot a cantonal tourism strategy aligned with the municipality’s development plan and sustainability goals.
Design an annual work plan with corresponding activities for rural and southern districts.
Identify and promote locally made products.
Design and develop promotional resources that position the area as a national touristic attraction.
Monitor and evaluate indicators of touristic development.
Create technical reports with feedback and improvement.
You may also work on additional projects that meet the community’s interests and priorities, such as facilitating English conversation clubs and coaching youth sports.
Required Skills
Competitive candidates will have one or more of the following criteria:
APPLY BY : July 15, 2026
KNOW BY : September 1, 2026
DEPART ON : February 2, 2027
DURATION : 12 months
Costa Rica is looking for professionals with a passion for sustainable tourism and community economic development to support their new tourism plans.
You will support a canton (similar to a county) southeast of downtown San José, the capital of Costa Rica. This municipality boasts a variety of attractions, including historic buildings, natural protected areas; breathtaking landscapes; sustainable farms, coffee, and sugar mills; farmers’ markets; and museums. However, the municipality currently lacks a robust tourism development plan to promote and utilize all these attractions. Their goal is to create a strategic plan for the canton and a gradual implementation phase where small businesses, farms, and cultural centers will be integrated. This participatory approach will result in shared goals and increased profits for the local stakeholders.
As a Tourism Development Specialist, you will collaborate with local stakeholders to assess, design, develop, and implement strategies to strengthen the canton's sustainable tourism. Alongside municipality workers, you will engage local businesses and community members to promote environmental and social sustainability.
Activities
How you and the community will make an impact together:
Design and pilot a cantonal tourism strategy aligned with the municipality’s development plan and sustainability goals.
Design an annual work plan with corresponding activities for rural and southern districts.
Identify and promote locally made products.
Design and develop promotional resources that position the area as a national touristic attraction.
Monitor and evaluate indicators of touristic development.
Create technical reports with feedback and improvement.
You may also work on additional projects that meet the community’s interests and priorities, such as facilitating English conversation clubs and coaching youth sports.
Required Skills
Competitive candidates will have one or more of the following criteria:
- Bachelor of Arts in Business, Marketing, or Hospitality and Tourism
- 3 years experience working in tourism marketing, and/or hospitality planning and project implementation
- Experience conducting training/workshops or developing training materials for community based tourism promotion
- Digital marketing skills, and community based tourism promotion
- Completed 4 years of high school Spanish coursework in the past 8 years
- Completed college-level Elementary II Spanish semester (Elementary III in quarter system) within the past 6 years
- Score between 50-62 on the Spanish College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exam in the past 6 years
- Score Novice-High or Intermediate-Low on official American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) in Spanish within the past 6 years
APPLY BY : July 15, 2026
KNOW BY : September 1, 2026
DEPART ON : February 2, 2027
DURATION : 12 months