It’s been a difficult year for tourism. Travelling is one of the first things private households cut in years of financial hardship. In an ironic twist, marketing is what the travel industry cuts in response.

But that isn’t even an option for small hotels who mostly depend on tourists being sent their way. Or, to be more precise, used to be dependent on that. The relationship to various middle men, i.e. travel agents, was the most important driver in small tourism, but that role is moving to the social networks fast.

However, while World of Warcraft might have a horde of community managers on standby, who’s doing the work at the small hotels? That’s what I asked Geinier Guzmán, the General Manager of La Cusinga Lodge in Costa Rica during my recent stay there.

Not every small hotel is hitting the social web with the vigour of La Cusinga. But Guzmán’s strategies probably don’t veer far from the path of economic necessity: Not enough money for a full time social media professional turns it into a trial and error process.

Of course, when engaging with the socialweb, it really helps to have something to say. Guzmán is not only the manager of his own eco lodge, he is also a local politician and an environmental activist. The news he shares with La Cusinga’s network are an engaging mix of hotel factlets and news about environmental issues and sustainable tourism in Costa Rica.

La Cusinga’s strategy of combining advertising and information seems to sit well with the social media audience. More than 2500 fans have joined their Facebook group so far. And bookings for 2010 are looking pretty good, too.

La Cusinga’s Chef David has returned from a trip to Panama, and that means that dinner at La Cusinga has become even more delicious.

But that’s not the reason why David Mahler will feature more prominently on Ideas will travel next week. The true reason is that he is an important part of the lodges web presence. In his blog “Chef of the Jungle” he writes about his general philosophy of cooking, and also shares the ups and downs of a gringo’s life in Costa Rica.

Maybe less literary, but more frequent are his activities on Facebook, where he posts this evening’s dish and a photo of the sunset taken from La Cusinga. In case you want to take a look at his Facebook page: there is more than one David Mahler, but only one lists La Cusinga as an employer.

Sharing pictures of food is always a nice idea, and just to make everyone just a little bit jealous, here is a picture of Thursday’s dinner. It’s roasted yellowfin tuna with pineapple salsa puree of camote (local white yam) and (if I remember correctly what he said) chayote or perulero squash. Because you won’t find any soda-cans or platic bottles at La Cusinga, each dinner is accompanied by either fresh water or some homemade fruit juice. In this case: carambole/starfruit.

As we’re talking eco-tourism, David’s dishes are also all-organic, and as local as can be. If you’re interested in the details, hang on. I’ll be joining David next week for some food shopping.

Until then, you’ll find me on La Cusinga’s community deck, counting the hours ’til dinner time.

PS: If there are enough requests, I will try and talk him into sharing some recipes.