IICD supported project: Promotion, Dissemination and Marketing of Community Tourism in Ecuador

Countries: Ecuador [EC]
Sectors: livelihood

Summary

Income from alternatives to agriculture, such as tourism or handicrafts production, is important to strengthen Ecuadorian communities. Therefore, it is vital to promote and strengthen community tourism initiatives in Ecuador to improve local population groups’ quality of life and guarantee adequate management of quality and sustainability in community tourism projects by Ecuador’s nationalities and peoples. The FEPTCE seeks to promote and strengthen these experiences. To foster these complementary economic options, this project will develop a system of connectivity, promotion and marketing to provide more efficient service through ICTs. The project will pilot at its Quito headquarters and in three regional sites: Central, Northern and Amazon Regional offices.

Objectives

The project's development goal is to improve quality of life for local population groups from an integrated, sustainable standpoint, by providing alternative livelihoods through community tourism. The project's overall goal is to market community tourism initiatives in Ecuador, through an information and communication system.

• Systematize and strengthen Community Tourism initiatives' management systems.
• Promote and market community tourism destinations offered by FEPTCE organizations in order to stimulate local economic dynamics.
• Contribute to FEPTCE institution-building.

Planned outputs

• Train promoters in digital systematization of experiences and handling of photographic and written information to continually enrich digital and print newsletters.
• Systematize through visual, photographic and digital records, with professional technical support, community tourism destinations. Tourism attractions are a priority: natural beauty, cultural wealth, gastronomic, ancestral health care and other existing alternative tourism appeals in Ecuador.
• The regional offices will be connected to better coordinate reception of tourists and organize circuits.
• Experiences will follow FEPTCE membership processes.
• An annual magazine will highlight community tourism experiences and approaches.
• The FEPTCE Website will have professional information to promote community tourism in Ecuador, with a reservation system.

Management and organisation

FEPTCE has over 57 members throughout Ecuador. For coordinating purposes, there are six regional offices. The top FEPTCE authority is the Assembly of Members, who appoint a Board of Directors: President, Vice-President, and seven Secretaries. The Board sets up a technical team to work under the responsibility of a Technical Director. This team includes community communication promoters.

Market and finance

To raise income for the connectivity project, four sources are considered:

• Contribution by Assembly members - 20% of the $100 USD yearly dues that members contribute for administrative overhead and institution-building.
• Additional economic support by selling advertising, selling copies of the magazine, and other FEPTCE publications.
• Charging a commission of $10 USD per email reservation. The pilot project is estimated to entail 2000 reservations.
• Donor organizations and international cooperation agencies.

Results

To improve quality of life for local population groups, from an integrated, sustainable standpoint, with alternative income through community tourism. The project also seeks to build FEPTCE as an organization, in order to reach more community organizations working throughout Ecuador, and enhance their Community Tourism activities.

Lessons learned

• Take advantage of ICTs as ways to obtain and convey contents to directly benefit local communities.
• Community promoters must handle communicational tools to improve the capacity to work with the target group.
• ICTs promote change processes in the context of the work - in and of themselves, they will not produce the same change or effect in the people.

Project Owner : FEPTCE - Plurinational Federation for Community Tourism in Ecuador

Project Partners : IICD

Project Contact : IICD