How can a travel agency and its clients contribute to sustainable tourism? We believe that by creating tourist products that are at once high-quality, interesting, and provocative, while contributing directly to people in need, we can help.
Why is this important? In Colombia, poverty is a major problem - 45 % of the people are poor and 17% are in need. In other words, 62% of Colombians are suffering from malnutrition, lack of basic sanitary conditions, and lack of public education.
Tourists visiting Colombia only see her superficial side – the resorts, the beaches, the beautiful cities and parks – and they leave without really understanding or being able to draw accurate conclusions about this country. Tourist operators haven´t offered opportunities to expose tourists to and integrate them with this 62% of the Colombian people.
Our mission is to contribute to the reduction of these high poverty levels by attempting to involve the poor people of Santa Marta in local tourism. Thus, we must try to provide tourism options which integrate the visitor’s personal leisure time with his sense of charity and desire to help.