Eco-Experiencias El Salvador
Summary:
Your idea
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Street Address
Calle Dr Jose Zablah, 4-6, Col. Utila,
City
Sta Tecla
State/Province
La Libertad
Postal/Zip Code
Country
El Salvador
Year innovation began
2007
Geotourism Challenge Addressed by Entrant
Quality and distinctiveness of the destination
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Indicate sector in which you principally work
Tourism-related business
Geographic location
Rural.
Plot your innovation within the Mosaic of Solutions
Main insight addressed
Market authenticity
Name Your Project
Eco-Experiencias El Salvador
Describe Your Idea
Innovation
What is the goal of your innovation?
To bring the country of El Salvador into the sustainable tourism marketplace in a manner that respects local values, creates authentic experiences, and diversifies the rural economy.
How does your approach support or embody geotourism?
El Salvador is a country that has suffered a severe civil war. The country is undergoing an economic and cultural revival, and tourism is just entering into this dynamic. Eco-Experiencias El Salvador seeks to use responsible tourism in rural areas to reinforce and help to revive traditional cultures, food, products, and to help conserve biodiversity in the region. It is seeking to reinforce indigenous crafts and cultural values which were virtually eliminated via massacres in the 1930s, and to support local worker cooperatives which have maintained strong rural values.
Describe your approach in detail. How is it innovative?
Eco-Experiencias El Salvador is a component of a USAID project which seeks to conserve critical watersheds in Western El Salvador. The project has sought to bring a whole new image to Western El Salvador for tourism - by working with tour operators, local business people, local cooperatives, academics, and municipalities on the development of specific new cultural and ecotourism products - via business planning, community development planning, small grants, and technical assistance. It is supporting local innovation, and helping all players to understand how they need to fit into a larger, branded image - Eco-Experiencias El Salvador. The project began by undertaking participatory, interpretive workshops to allow local working groups to create their own "stories" of who they can be in the marketplace, and is now developing a diversified set of tours and attractions which will be presented on the website.
What types of partnerships or professional development would be most beneficial in spreading your innovation?
The project is presently signing agreements with local tour operators and asking each tour operator to commit to a sustainable tourism development agenda. Each tour operator is being asked to adopt at least one local attraction or business, or community product and help that project to develop as an attraction for their business. By asking the tour operators to partner with the local attractions, we are building an innovative supply chain and supporting this via small scale trainings programs via local training bodies. We are then seeking partnerships with international tour operators interested in voluntours and other types of ecotourism programs. We are also seeking to partner with investors interested in small, scale ecological tourism development, and with the coffee industry, which has a very major role to play in El Salvado. At present, we are developing, innovative collaborations between coffee companies, conservation entities, and tourism companies.
Impact
In one sentence describe what kind of impact, change, or reform your approach is intended to achieve.
The project is seeking to provide economic benefits to rural, Western El Salvador that will generate revenues for local people and the conservation of biodiversity.
Describe the degree of success of your approach to date. Clearly define how you measure quantitative and qualitative impact in terms of how your approach contributes to the sustainability or enhancement of local culture, environment, heritage, or aesthetics? How does your approach minimize negative impacts? 200 words or less
The project is being carefully measured in terms of the economic benefits it is generating in the rural destination points it has specifically targeted for sustainble tourism development. An economic baselines study was performed, and regular economic impact measurements are being made. Qualitatively, the project is building a strong constituency of local players, and developing internal communication mechanisms via meetings, newsleters and intra-net so they can communicate among themselves. Each new tourism product being developed must meet sustainability objectives, which have been outlined by the project. A strong events program is underway in small towns which highlights local artisan work, particularly of indigenous people who have played a very active role in the project. All business and municipal projects are undergoing advance environmental impact analyses, and development is only now beginning as those studies are being concluded.
How does your program promote traveler enthusiasm, satisfaction, and engagement with the locale?
The Eco-Experiencias El Salvador project seeks to help travelers have a more diversified, rich, culture and nature experience that is rooted in the local, rural landscapes of Western El Salvador.
Describe how your innovation helps travelers and local residents better understand the value of the area’s cultural and natural heritage, and educates them on local environmental issues. How do you motivate them to act responsibly in their future travel decisions?
Previously, there have been few materials prepared at all about local El Salvadoran cultural heritage for travelers. This project will provide the first, well-designed program to inform travelers about how to enjoy and understand El Salvdoran rural culture. It will reinforce the existing good work that has been done to help travelers to responsibly visit natural landscapes.
In what ways are local residents actively involved in your innovation, including participation and community input? How has the community responded to or benefited from your approach?
The project began with participatory, interpretation workshops to allow local working groups from the community, business, muncipalities, and conservation groups to imagine how they would like to be interpreted in the marketplace (or not if they chose). A series of events have been designed from these workshops featuring local culture, artwork, and artisania. The community has been very responsive and they have helped to design the interpretative materials that will be presented about their regions on the Eco-Experiencias El Salvador website.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
Is your initiative financially and organizationally sustainable? If not, what is required to make it so? What is the potential demand for your innovation?
The Eco-Experiencias El Salvador website will be designed in three phases. Phase 1 is strictly interpretative information on the nature and culture of Western El Salvador. Phase II will include tourism product information with local contacts. Phase III will be a business plan for commercialization. The site will ultimtely offer El Salvadoran sustaianble tourism products for sale on commission and will be sold to an entrepeneur at the end of the project with all the product liaisons and supply chain in place.
How is your initiative currently financed? If available, provide information on your finances and organization that could help others. Please list: Annual budget, annual revenue generated, size of part-time, full-time and volunteer staff.
USAID is supporting the initiative until September 2009.
What is your plan to expand your approach? Please indicate where/how you would like to grow or enhance your innovation, or have others do so.
The plan is to use this pilot program being undertaken for Western El Salvador into a national intiaitive. The project is already coordinating with a number of important national organizations, including the highly-regarding local foundation Fundemas, the National Sustainable Development Commission of El Salvador, and the largest, national conservation NGO, SalvaNatura. There was a national conference on ecotourism held in El Salvador in February 2008 and Fundemas already stated they will use this project as a model for further development at the national level.
What are the main barriers you encounter in managing, implementing, or replicating your innovation? What barriers keep your program from having greater impact?
The project is still consolidating its partnerships, and must continuously work with all local stakeholderes to ensure that its efforts become part of the local development landscape.
The Story
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers' marketing material.
I would prefer to have my counterparts in El Salvador do this. Both Raul Martinez and Ena Lopez could provide their background. They are working on all aspects of this program in El Salvador.
What is the origin of your innovation? Tell your story.
I am a long-time player in the ecotourism world as the founder of The International Ecotourism Society. I have long wanted to implement more wholistic, ecotourism development projects that can have real meaning at the local level.
Please write an overview of your project. This text will appear when people scroll over the icon for your entry on the Google map located on the competition homepage.
Eco-Experiencias El Salvador is helping the country of El Salvador to create a more diversified tourism economy that is true to their own culture and interprets their rural landscapes and peoples from their own stories while conserving biodiversity in the region.
 | ger gerg said: tiffany jewelry Choose, buy and shop for on sale tiffany jewelry including Tiffany & Co Silver Necklace, Pendants, Bangles, Bracelets, ... about this idea. - 206 days ago read more > |
| Megan Epler Wood said: The website for Eco-Experiencias El Salvador is planned for launch in May 2008 at www.elsalvadorexperience.com ---------- Megan ... about this idea. - 830 days ago read more > |
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