Founded by GME's CEO Cris Calvo in 1998 and operated until 2025, Asuaire was the laboratory where the sustainability methodology now productized as the SustainAble route was developed, refined, and stress-tested across a quarter-century of real tour operations.
The challenge
In 1998, sustainable tourism wasn’t a category — it was a hypothesis.
Cris Calvo founded Asuaire to test it in practice: could a tour operator in Costa Rica build sustainability into the bones of the operation — not as a marketing layer — and still thrive commercially? The challenge wasn’t to certify what already existed. It was to build the methodology while running the company.
The work
Twenty-five years read as three phases — each one developing what would later become a module of the productized platform.
The initial commitment to carbon neutrality. Asuaire built systems to measure its own footprint — what would later become GME Monitor — reduced emissions through operational change, and offset the rest. It reached Carbon Neutral, the highest level available in Costa Rica.
Sustainability became the operating principle, not an initiative. 74% of suppliers earned certification or adopted sustainable practices; the "Guiding to guide" program trained low-income Costa Ricans as professional guides. The methodology to scale this across a supply chain became the Action Plan and Reporting modules.
The methodology started leaving Asuaire. Cris began advising other operators (CCRA from 2022); the proprietary tools were generalized into a platform any operator could use. The methodology had outgrown a single operation — Cris moved full-time to scaling it through GME, productized as the SustainAble route.
The shift
"Asuaire taught me that sustainability isn’t a project a company runs — it’s how a company runs. Twenty-five years operating it is what made me confident enough to productize it."
— Cris Calvo, founder of Asuaire (1998–2025) · CEO, GME ⚠ pendiente validación
The outcome
A 25-year track record — the audit-ready receipt of the methodology that became GME.
The methodology outlived any single operation. Asuaire’s sustainability practices were never dependent on one passionate leader — they were operationalized. That portability is exactly what GME productizes: build it so it lasts beyond any one person.
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