Ecuador contains very attractive places for tourism. Thousands of visitors every year visit the natural landscapes and cultural resources across the country. These areas are inhabited by indigenous communities and are often characterized by high levels of poverty, lack of basic services (which can deter tourists and prevent them from having decent living conditions), and low levels of human development.

Tourists visiting these areas show interest in learning about other cultures and enjoying unique experiences together with the indigenous communities. However, due to a lack of basic services or training, these communities cannot perform community-managed rural tourism.

CODESPA commits to developing these communities. We support them in structuring self-managed tourism packages so that they can earn an income from tourism, thus achieving a better future for themselves, their families, and their communities. How do we do that?

• We train indigenous families so that they can offer quality services according to the need of tourists.
• The community learns to self-manage the sale of tourist services, thanks to the support and advice of private tourist companies with which we have alliances.
• We promote public-private partnerships that increase the flow of tourists.

More than 3,500 people already benefit from this initiative currently underway with the collaboration of the AF Development Bank of Latin America, within the framework of the RUTAS program: Community-managed tourism destinations with Sustainable Quality in Latin America.

Focussing on improving tourism management skills, this project allows families that have traditionally worked in agriculture to receive supplementary income from tourism and come out of poverty. This means they can earn income alternative to their main activity.