friendlyperutravel.com Viajes Responsables a Perú
Location
Friendlyperutravel.com was born as an initiative of a group of professionals who were interested in promoting a type of tourism different from the tourism that was being performed in our country up to that moment.
Our main motivation is to serve as a linkage between the increasing demand of alternative tourism and the community and family-run touristic initiatives, which are the least favored in the trips towards the main destinations of Peru.
We offer responsible travel at a small scale with focus in the knowledge of the other; we develop our operations within our own code of conduct, within a context of respect and cultural exchange.
About You
Contact Information
Title
Title (e.g. Mr. Ms.
First name
Mariel Gonzáles
Last name
Negreiros
Your job title
Gestión y Desarrollo
Name of your organization
friendlyperutravel.com
Organization type
Organization Type
Annual budget/currency
Annual Budget/Currency
Mailing address
Mailing Address
Telephone number
Telephone Number
Postal/Zip Code
Country
Peru
Email address
Alternative email address
Alternative email address
Your idea
This will be the address used to plot your entry on the map.
Street Address
Urb. Los Diamantes A-4 3er piso
City
.
State/Province
.
Postal/Zip Code
Country
Peru
Geotourism Challenge Addressed by Entrant
quality of tourist experience and educational benefit to tourists , quality of benefit to residents for the destination , quality of tourism management by destination leadership , quality of stewardship of the destination.
Organization size
Small (1 to 100 employees)
Indicate sector in which you principally work
Tourism-related business
Year innovation began
2006
YouTube upload of game, game elements, someone playing the game...what is this?
Paste your code here
Indicate sector in which you principally work
Living culture.
Name Your Project
friendlyperutravel.com Viajes Responsables a Perú
Describe Your Idea
Friendlyperutravel.com was born as an initiative of a group of professionals who were interested in promoting a type of tourism different from the tourism that was being performed in our country up to that moment.
Our main motivation is to serve as a linkage between the increasing demand of alternative tourism and the community and family-run touristic initiatives, which are the least favored in the trips towards the main destinations of Peru.
We offer responsible travel at a small scale with focus in the knowledge of the other; we develop our operations within our own code of conduct, within a context of respect and cultural exchange.
IDB/Fomin
Si perteneces a un pais de Latinoamerica y el Caribe tienes la oportunidad de presentar tu iniciativa para acceder a fondos para innovaciones en turismo sostenible del BID/FOMIN (para mayor informacion leer la seccion sobre la oportunidad BID/FOMIN en la pagina principal del Desafio).
No deseo postularme.
Si perteneces a un pais de Latinoamerica y el Caribe tienes la oportunidad de presentar tu iniciativa para acceder a fondos para innovaciones en turismo sostenible del BID/FOMIN (para mayor informacion leer la seccion sobre la oportunidad BID/FOMIN en la pagina principal del Desafio).
Consumidores (viajeros), Operadores de Turismo, Prestatarios de servicios turísticos, Prestatarios de servicios no turísticos (proveedores), Grupos comunitarios autóctonos, Atractivos naturales y culturales.
Indica cuales de estas tematicas cubre tu innovacion (elige todas aquellas opciones que apliquen)
Innovación y diversificación en el desarrollo de productos turísticos.
Innovation
What is the goal of your innovation? Please describe in one sentence the kind of impact, change, or reform your approach is intended to achieve.
To design and operate travels that is responsible of the cultural and natural environment of the communities visited.
Please write an overview of your project. Include how your approach supports or embodies geotourism or destination stewardship. This text will appear when people scroll over the icon for your entry on the map located on the competition homepage.
Friendlyperutravel.com was born as an initiative of a group of professionals who were interested in promoting a type of tourism different from the tourism that was being performed in our country up to that moment.
Our main motivation is to serve as a linkage between the increasing demand of alternative tourism and the community and family-run touristic initiatives, which are the least favored in the trips towards the main destinations of Peru.
We offer responsible travel at a small scale with focus in the knowledge of the other; we develop our operations within our own code of conduct, within a context of respect and cultural exchange.
Explain in detail why your approach is innovative
Our vision when we started this project was to initiate a new trend of touristic practice. The new trend’s main axis to achieve development is the culture of the hostess and the local inhabitant. We created a route were the tourists can get to know the most important community tourism entrepreneurships of the South of Peru, and since we are an associated business interested in the growth of these destinations, we perform social responsibility activities as training the service operators, local guides and the community in general.
Impact
Describe the degree of success you have had to date. How do you measure, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the impact on sustainability or enhancement of local culture, environment, heritage, or aesthetics? How has it transformed or contributed to the power of place or demonstrated the sustainability of tourism? How does your approach minimize negative impacts?
The positive effects are tangible, we are glad to know that we serve as strategic partners of each community. The inhabitant has access to all the information regarding the theme, our Strategic Plan for Development of Tourism in Yanque district is used in trainings, serving as a reference for the development of the activity at the district. In addition, we have recently achieved a contract for the distribution and sale of our route with the travel agency Viajesresponsables.com. This allow us to expand our market.
In what ways are local residents actively involved in your work, including participation and community input? How has the community responded to or benefited from your approach?
Local participation is a determinant axis of our project. Since our very beginnings, when we developed the Plan for Development of Tourism at Yanque district, we recognized the importance of the opinion of the inhabitants in order to achieve success at any entrepreneurship related with the theme. We developed participative workshops with the inhabitants and the authorities, as well as awareness and informational workshops. Currently we have a series of activities related, we develop periodic trainings (local guides, service, touristic awareness) since it is notable that the roots of the cultural identity of the communities is their main value.
How does your program promote traveler enthusiasm, satisfaction, and engagement with the locale?
We focus in responsible tourism offering the tourists authenticity and real experience, with the best quality hotels and family lodgings, under a personalized service.
Describe how your work helps travelers and local residents better understand the value of the area's cultural and natural heritage, and educates them on local environmental issues.
In our project, the most important thing is getting to know one another; we share our culture and promote mutual learning. We have created a code of conduct, which is compulsory for all the visits to the communities of destination. We are interested in showing our environment and culture in an authentic way, we don’t pretend to merely present landscaping. As a result of the awareness workshops, we have created a policy to eliminate CO2 caused by the travel, by planting a tree at each community of destination.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
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.
The project and the creation of the website was developed with own capital, which is still limited. As any business we hope for the proportional growth of our project.
Is your initiative financially and organizationally sustainable? If not, what is required to make it so? Is there a potential demand for your innovation?
We haven’t achieved an adequate equilibrium level, but the low costs of maintaining our website and our recent contract with viajesresponsables.com predicts a greater growth in the short term.
What are the main barriers you encounter in managing, implementing, or replicating your innovation? What barriers keep your program from having greater impact?
The barriers are the lack of commercial contracts with other agencies that has the same orientation and the diminished funding to develop social responsibility activities.
What is your plan to expand or further develop your approach? Please indicate where/how you would like to grow or enhance your innovation, or have others do so.
Achieve greater advertisement, online positioning of our website, seek contracts with other agencies, finish the formalization of our business, and access to trainings in themes as sustainable tourism, culture and development.
The Story
What is the origin of your innovation? Tell the Changemakers and media communities what prompted you to start this initiative.
We created our business motivated by a volunteer experience (while students) at the family lodging Sumac Huayta Wasi, located at Yanque Colca Valley district. Over there we learned about the valuable cultural experience. After some time, we become part of the Photograph Inventory Project at the right margin of the Colca Valley, getting to know extraordinary places and people. After the work developed for the Municipality of Yanque, province of Caylloma – as part of our internship program – and after the trips to Cuzco and Puno we thought that this was the best way to offer a real knowledge about the Peruvian culture, with the main axis in commerce, we bet on culture and exchange experiences. That is how in 2005 we had the idea of a travel agency that fairly integrates the service providers and communities visited. In 2007 the website was launched friendlyperutravel.com, where we work under the premises of sustainable and responsible tourism.
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers' marketing material.
I have always had a special interest in tourism, my relationship with Colca Valley started when I was a little girl who travelled frequently. When I finished my tourism studies, and with other courses related with the theme as inter-cultures, development and sustainable tourism, I got interested in developing my internship at Yanque district, and then travel to the departments of Cusco and Puno. These trips allowed me to get to know different realities and people that supported my idea of promoting fair and responsible tourism. That is how after some time this project started friendlyperutravel.com
Describe some unique tourist experiences that your approach provides. Be specific; give illustrative examples.
We mainly focus in the knowledge of the host culture of each destination. In the city of Arequipa, the visitors get to know the main market of the city, since we believe that is the best way to present our cultural synthesis. At the main destinations, each visitor become part of the family and the context that is visiting, each one becomes part of activities, feasts, costumes, according to each case. Our route is done over the road, this allow the visitor to tour all over the area and to get to know the real and tangible Peru and its geographic and cultural diversity.
We believe the most important thing about a trip is the real knowledge, is the experience of becoming part of the place you are visiting, without this, the trip is only seen and felt as a picture, it doesn’t have feelings or soul.
What types of partnerships or professional development would be most beneficial in spreading your innovation?
Our main limitation is the lack of connections with agencies interested and tuned with our philosophy. We would like to be able to access some kind of professional courses and trainings in themes related with responsible tourism, as well as to have professionals to support us in the trainings and sustainability of the communities of destination.
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Comments
Muy interesante su trabajo, felicitaciones! Ya les contactaré por medio de su Pagina Web.
Saludos desde Huaraz, Ancash!
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Guido J. van Es
Director RESPONS Centro de Turismo Sostenible
Huaraz, Perú
www.respons.org