Building the Osa Travelers' Philanthropy Fund
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
Geotourism Challenge 2010: Places on the Edge - Saving Coastal and Freshwater Destinations competition.
This project offers a new tool for expanding the positive impacts of ecotourism flowing to both community and conservation priorities in the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. It is moving the concept and practice of travelers’ philanthropy to a new strategic level – one that generates resources collectively via destination-wide donations of “time, talent and treasure” for a set of high-priority development and environmental projects. The Osa Travelers’ Philanthropy Fund is projected to become self-supporting within five years, with the capacity to cover operating costs with 10% to 15% of the funds raised. In addition, it is replicable, offering a model that can be adapted for other tourism destinations around the world.
About You
Section 1: About You
First Name
Alejandra
Last Name
Monge
Organization
Corcovado Foundation
Country
Section 2: About Your Organization
Organization Name
Corcovado Foundation
Organization Website
Organization Phone
(506) 2297-3013
Organization Address
Moravia, Los Colegios Norte
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Organization Country
Costa Rica, SJ
Your idea
Name Your Project
Building the Osa Travelers' Philanthropy Fund
Country your work focuses on
Costa Rica, PU
Describe Your Idea
This project offers a new tool for expanding the positive impacts of ecotourism flowing to both community and conservation priorities in the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. It is moving the concept and practice of travelers’ philanthropy to a new strategic level – one that generates resources collectively via destination-wide donations of “time, talent and treasure” for a set of high-priority development and environmental projects. The Osa Travelers’ Philanthropy Fund is projected to become self-supporting within five years, with the capacity to cover operating costs with 10% to 15% of the funds raised. In addition, it is replicable, offering a model that can be adapted for other tourism destinations around the world.
Website URL
Would you like to participate in the MIF Opportunity 2010?
Yes
Innovation
What makes your idea unique and innovative?
Travelers’ philanthropy promotes tourism businesses and their guests making concrete contributions to projects in tourism destinations. It generates resources – “time, talent and treasure” –above and beyond normal payments for goods and services of the tourism business. In tourism destinations around the world, travel-generated donations are helping to support and empower local communities by providing jobs, skills, and lasting improvements in health care, education, and environmental stewardship. Today thousands of tourism businesses are generating tens of millions of dollars a year through visitor and corporate contributions. It is about integrating philanthropy into the core definition of responsible travel. It is also about:
• Helping tourism businesses become actively involved as ‘good citizens’ in their travel destinations.
• Assisting local projects that provide a ‘hand up’ not a ‘hand out;’ that is, projects that promote social empowerment, education, training, and entrepreneurship that lead to sustainable, long-term development and environmental conservation.
• Enriching the travel experience through meaningful, culturally sensitive, and productive interactions between visitors and people in host communities.
The Osa Travelers’ Philanthropy Fund incorporates these benefits while moving to a new level by creating a destination-wide initiative which is cost effective for individual businesses; strengthens the image and brand of the Osa for high quality, small scale ecotourism; and has the capacity to generate greater contributions through a coordinated, effectively publicized, and efficiently run campaign.
This project is the result of a partnership between Center for Responsible Travel (CREST) and Fundación Corcovado. CREST is a policy oriented research institute, with offices at Stanford University (www.responsibletravel.org, www.travelersphilantrophy.org)
Do you have a patent for this idea?
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had on your clients and the tourism sector?
Since 2004, the Corcovado Foundation has had campaigns to promote more responsible relationships between Osa area businesses and their surrounding communities and natural resources. Through seminars and workshops, Corcovado Foundation has trained over 350 hotel employees in some 20 hotels located in 8 different communities. More than half of these hotels also launched their own environmental management programs.
The Foundation worked on a project called “Providing support to the Costa Rican Institute of Tourism in their process of creating the General Plan for Tourism Development for the Southern Pacific Area of Costa Rica.” Our organization has been responsible for gathering all the existing information related to communities consultation and surveys that have been produced as part of previous planning processes in this region. These studies, which we have found in the Natural Protected Areas Managing Plans, Municipal Plans, and other government documents, reveal that communities around Corcovado view ecotourism as a tool for improving their way of life, based on the sustainable use of local resources. Corcovado Foundation believes that the project will back up the communities desires to see their areas economically developed in an environmentally and socially sound way, and will provide our organization and other local NGO’s in the area with the information required to successfully promote a comprehensive vision and plan for expanding responsible tourism in the Osa Peninsula.
Problem
The Osa Peninsula remains the last and biologically most significant area along the Pacific coast as yet undeveloped by large scale coastal resort, cruise, and vacation home tourism. The aggressive development of “residential tourism” along the northern and central coast holds important lessons and warning signs for the Osa Peninsula. As early as the 1970s, the Costa Rican Government looked at ‘sun and sand’ resort tourism catering to an international market as an opportunity to generate jobs in economical depressed areas such as Guanacaste. This rapid development has brought unanticipated demands for government services and resources. Large amounts of water are required by the hotels pools and golf courses, leaving some communities with shortages of this precious liquid. With most of the tourism dollars spent within the resorts and many jobs being temporary (construction), seasonal (many resorts and vacation homes), and low paying, Costa Rica has gained in terms of employment or sales of local goods and services. The communities have little access to well paid jobs, since higher positions go to better educated, English speaking recruits from the Central Valley.
Actions
We plan to develop the Osa Travelers’ Philanthropy Fund in partnership with the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST) and the Osa Chamber of Tourism (CATUOSA) through three phases: 1) Development which includes presenting the concept via a series of workshops, a baseline survey of tourism businesses and organizations in the Osa, and other basic research; 2) Implementation which includes creating an stakeholder Advisory Committee, carrying out a 4-month Pilot Project, and developing a proposed model and business plan for the Fund; and 3) Institutionalization which involves building a Membership Association and an elected Executive Committee for the Fund; training Fundación Cordovado staff to administer the Fund; creating promotional materials, new tours, and volunteerism opportunities; and launching, monitoring, and evaluating the Fund throughout its first year. In early 2013, we will incorporate lessons learned to date and then develop a 5-year business plan for the Fund.
Results
(1) greater, aggregated amounts of philanthropic revenue with which to achieve high priority community goals; (2) more visible and tangible results of philanthropy—a boon for both the community and the philanthropists; and (3) greater community-wide sharing in the costs and benefits of travelers’ philanthropy. (4) Local communities conserving nature (5) Local project producing wealth and social wellbeing to all.
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
three stages, each lasting approximately one year. These stages and their main components are:
1) Development (October 2010 – December 2011) which includes presenting the concept via a series of workshops in six locations in the Osa, a baseline survey of tourism businesses and organizations in the Osa, and other basic research;
2) Implementation (January – December 2012) which includes creating an stakeholder Advisory Committee, carrying out a 4-month Pilot Project, and developing a proposed model and business plan for the Fund; and
3) Institutionalization (January – December 2013) which involves building a Membership Association and an elected Executive Committee for the Fund; training Fundación Corcovado staff to administer the Fund; creating promotional materials, new tours, and voluntourism opportunities; and launching, monitoring, and evaluating the Fund throughout its first year.
2) Implementation (January – December 2012) which includes creating an stakeholder Advisory Committee, carrying out a 4-month Pilot Project, and developing a proposed model and business plan for the Fund; and
3) Institutionalization (January – December 2013) which involves building a Membership Association and an elected Executive Committee for the Fund; training Fundación Cordovado staff to administer the Fund; creating promotional materials, new tours, and voluntourism opportunities; and launching, monitoring, and evaluating the Fund throughout its first year.
In late 2013, Fundacion Corcovado and its local partners, together with CREST, will incorporate lessons learned to date and then develop a 5-year business plan for the Fund with a view to achieving economic self-sufficiency within five years.. This means that sufficient funds will be generated through a range of tourism-link activities (visitor and company donations, membership fees, volunteer add-ons to room nights, etc) to cover Fundacion Corcovado’s costs of running the fund while donating at least 85% of funds raised to local conservation and community projects.
What would prevent your project from being a success?
Our project won’t be successful if we can’t get local tourism businesses to get involved in the program. Local businesses will need to engage actively in a promotion of community projects and/or environmental efforts. If their participation is pale, the project will not succeed. The only way to making sure that local business demonstrates this kind of commitment is by constructing every brink of the project with them, first on the concept, then on the field. Our project won’t be successful if we can’t get local tourism businesses to get involved in the program. Local businesses will need to engage actively in a promotion of community projects and/or environmental efforts. If their participation is pale, the project will not succeed. The only way to making sure that local business demonstrates this kind of commitment is by constructing every brink of the project with them, first on the concept, then on the field.
Another thing that could jeopardize the project is lack of interest in making improvements or participating on projects by the local groups.
How many people will your project serve annually?
101‐1000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$100 ‐ 1000
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy or introduce models and tools that benefit the tourism sector in general?
Yes
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Idea phase
In what country?
Costa Rica, PU
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
Fundación Corcovado/Corcovado Foundation
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government?
Yes
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
The foundation has been asked by the Osa Tourism Chamber (CATUOSA) to launch a sustainable tourism program with the intention of becoming the first sustainable chamber of tourism in the country by 2012. This means that all their members should be certified under one or more environmental certification programs. To achieve this, much training and support will be required by the local companies. To obtain this goal, the Foundation will work with the Osa Tourism Chamber and the Center for Responsable Travel to systematically promote sustainable tourism practices to Chamber members through workshops. The Travelers Philanthropy Program will be a tool for companies to participate in a sustainable tourism certification programs. We believe that an intensive and compelling training program to engage local members of the businesses to help us promote the program will be determining of the success of the program.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
The three most important actions needed to build the Osa Travelers’ Philanthropy Fund are:
1. A series of workshops to build local interest and buy-in from at least 50 tourism businesses by the end of year one;
2. Creation of institutional tools – first an Advisory Committee and then a Membrship Association and Executive Committee – that will work with Fundacion Corcovado’s Ecotourism Project to ensure a transparent, equitable, and democratic decision making process to give the Fund
3. A steadily expanding stream of revenue from a range of activities (donations, tour and hotel fees, community courses, membership fees, etc) to grow it towards self-sufficiency by the end of year five.
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
Through our work with tourism businesses in the Osa, we know that many of them have a strong commitment to social and environmental best practices, including Travelers’ Philanthropy. But because many of them are SMEs and some are community or rural tourism projects, they often lack staff and resources to undertake new initiatives. For instance, a number of ecotourism businesses in the Osa have not been able to go through the certification process to obtain a rating under Costa Rica’s internationally acclaimed CST program. Similarly, a number of businesses tell us that they do not have the staff or resources to, on their own, start a travelers’ philanthropy program which would raise corporate and guest contributions for local projects. The idea for a collective Fund, through which small and medium businesses can share expertise, costs, organizational management, and marketing, grew out of these discussions. As mentioned above, this concept is also being piloted in Monteverde, another Costa Rican community with a strong ecotourism presence, social coherence, and international identity and brand. Both the Osa and the Monteverde Travelers’ Philanthropy Funds will be showcased at the next International Travelers’ Philanthropy Conference which CREST (together with the Monteverde Institute) is organizing in Costa Rica.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
We have been listening to the communities complains about how they protect the natural resources, some of them by conviction, some of them because they have no choice, tourism comes to the area and they don’t benefit from it. We realize that there is got to be a way to transfer some of the wealth generated by tourism to benefit local communities
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Email from Changemakers
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
50 words or fewer
MIF Opportunity 2010
Has your organization been legally constituted or registered in your country or one of your target countries for at least three years?
Yes
Does the applicant organization have sufficient financial resources to guarantee the co-financing required by MIF during the execution period of the project? (This amounts to at least 50% of the project’s total budget with 25% in cash and 25% in-kind.)
Yes
Does the applicant organization have experience managing projects co-financed by international organizations? Please describe below
Fundación Corcovado has worked, since 1992, in a range of programs including recycling collection programs, turtle conservation, and supporting the Osa Conservation Area through funding park guards and building ranger stations. Over the last four years, our work has focused increasingly on ecotourism and sustainable tourism, including training over 350 hotel employees from more than 30 hotels and the implementation of sustainable tourism programs in more than ten of these hotels. Also the foundation has work with grassroots groups to help them start or improve their ecotourism program. We have succesfully administrated and implemented projects for about 3,5 millions dollars in the last 6 years for The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, Humane Society, The Rainforest Alliance, The CR-USA Foundation and UNDP.
Please classify the applicant organization according to the options below
Community based Organization
What problem-area does your project address?
Access to markets, Access to financing.
How will your project address this problem?
This project moves travelers’ philanthropy to a new strategic level – from community outreach efforts by individual tourism businesses to a collective campaign by businesses in the region to generate resources for a suite of selected projects identified as meeting local development and conservation priorities.
Who is benefited by the initiative? (Please highlight the type and number of beneficiaries, and their role in the tourism value-chain.)
This project will benefit aproximately 80 small, medium and micro size tourism enterprises and well as the community in which they operate. It will also support it will support local associations and local efforts to protect the environment or to promote social improvements. One example of a social improvement that will be made through travelers philantrophy raised as part of this project, will be the water system for El Progreso community, which will benefit 200 people in that community. There are many more examples through the Osa.
How will the project's results assist the region’s tourism sector and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises?
By strengthening small businesses and local associations we strive to improve their participation in local decisions related to the tourism model. The area is being pressured to become to a massive destination. The government is pushing for an international airport and realtors have their eyes on Osa beautiful coasts. If the communities are economically starved they will be easy prey for real estate agents and unscrupulous investors.
A. Total Budget (100%)
$970,000.00
B. MIF Contribution (up to 50% of total budget and US$. 500.000 max)
$470,000.00
C. Cash co-financing (at least 25% of total budget)
$395,000.00
D. In kind co-financing (at least 25% of total budget)
$75,000.00
 | 119 weeks ago Javier Rodríguez-Fonseca said: Suerte para Ale y Cº! about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 119 weeks ago Bradd Johnson said: This project is so important for the generations to come! To a get a chance to see like we have and can keep the jewel of Costa Rica ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 120 weeks ago Larry Schnieder said: I have been working in environmental NGOs for years and this concept of Travelers' Philanthropy is a diamond in the ruff. This idea has ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 120 weeks ago Wendy Cooper said: A truly innovative and novel idea. about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 120 weeks ago Francois Martinez said: This idea when done correctly, and after reading the proposal I have no doubt it will be, can be the most powerful force of positive ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 120 weeks ago Joel Barkin said: This is a great idea! I went to the Osa Peninsula a few years ago and thought it was such an important place to keep pristine. My wife ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 120 weeks ago Whitney Cooper said: As someone who has been involved with Travelers' Philanthropy on small scale projects, this seems like the next step in growing the ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 120 weeks ago Alejandra Monge said: We want to make sure we can keep Osa away from the path of overdevelopment. We want communities to develop in an organized way, hand in ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 120 weeks ago bob johnson said: Its happened time and time again. Big Resorts come in under "developers" take over a pristine location that belonged to the community. ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 121 weeks ago David Krantz said: I'm very excited about the idea of destination-wide travelers' philanthropy in the Osa Peninsula. I think it really has the potential ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
