Eco-Index: Best Lessons Learned

Best Lessons Learned



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March 2010

Organization(s): Rainforest Alliance, Regional

Lessons Learned

Community-based tourism is gaining popularity as a strategy for conservation, development, and poverty alleviation. It’s important to ensure adequate stakeholder representation: municipalities, academic, community development organizations, indigenous people and/or groups, local biodiversity conservation organizations, culture and arts associations, and tourism industry (tour operators, hotels, restaurants, park management, etc.)

Empower cultural and natural resources management by locals that contributes to the long-term preservation of local traditions. It is important to develop new tourism services by building and diversifying upon natural and cultural assets.

The ability of local people to participate in bottom-up small-scale tourism development varies considerably in each particular area, depending on economic, socio-political, ecological, and geographic factors.

Provide education, training, and other forms of skills development within rural communities that will facilitate their full participation in the tourism industry.

Strive to improve standards and criteria for services that are at the cutting edge of this demanding market.

The availability of basic services such as electricity, potable water, and sewage, as well as the adequate access and transportation to destinations limited the identification of markets or consumers for the community tourism products.

In order to reduce the ecological footprint and improve the quality of standards, we need to provide training to individual service providers such as restaurants and local guides.

MSMEs face struggles with a lack of entrepreneurial drive and limited business skills; the use of basic communication and information technologies; shortage of financial resources and systems; operating on trust, rather than on contracts; products or services that are sold mainly to the domestic market; lack of a high-quality service management system; and the need for improved market access.

Goals

Improve maintenance, management and/or support of public or private protected areas by tourism enterprises through specific actions and contributions.

Conserve local water and soil resources through tourism operations’ implementation of water usage reduction plans, solid and liquid waste management plans and introduction of environmentally-friendly cleaning products.

Enhance wildlife habitat and connectivity through native species reforestation efforts.

Decrease negative impacts on protected areas through tourism enterprises’ cooperative enforcement of protected area regulations.

Increase tourist support of local conservation through direct action and environmental education efforts.

Protect threatened and endangered animal and plant species through the adoption of policies and practices that prevent the consumption, sale, traffic, and display of flora and fauna species.

Project Conclusions

Approximately 95% of tourism businesses in Guatemala are small and medium-sized enterprises, and at least 20% of them are community-based enterprises. Their creation and development is “spontaneous”, which is to say that they are not based on entrepreneurial criteria, but on opportunities. Most of them are family-owned or run by a community cooperative and offer a wide-range of tourism products and services, and have authenticity and local flavor, along with a strong commitment to cultural and environmental conservation.

The lack of financial and institutional resources for community-based and small and medium-sized enterprises needs to be addressed in order to empower financially marginalized people.

MSMEs have gained an important role in local economies, due to their capacity for creating direct and indirect local employment. These businesses focus on local natural and cultural assets and promote visitation to local destinations such as protected areas and archaeological sites. They establish a strong, long-term relationship with clients and visitors due to their unique products and personalized attention. They have a tendency to partner with other MSMEs and build local and regional associations and clusters.