Ecotourism Project in Panama
(peacecorps.gov) In the heart of a nationally protected Panamanian rain forest lives a kind-hearted Embera Indian Tribe. Originally, when the inhabitants of this community migrated to this land decades ago, they lived off the land by farming and hunting. However, when the national government declared the area a protected park in 1994, the members of this community were forced to seek alternative means of survival. Thus, in attempts to generate income while preserving their culture as well as the environment, the villagers turned to Tourism as their primary source of income.
Throughout the past decade and a half, the community has created a beautiful tourist experience for visitors to learn about their local customs of the Embera Indian culture. Furthermore, the village has established relationships with tourism agencies. However, the level of income in the community remains insufficient for maintaining a quality of life above the poverty level. Although many tourists visit the community, the amount of income that trickles to each member of the community can be only cents a day.
Thus, in order to enhance their primary form of income, the community desires to launch a 3-step marketing campaign to generate more revenues. First, the community seeks to improve the tourist experience by building an informative Embera garden that displays the medicinal plants, plants used to make handicrafts, and a pathway throughout the community. Secondly, they will create business cards and brochures to promote the rich ethno / eco-tourism that the community offers. Thirdly, they will create a fair pricing schedule for services offered, and negotiate sales contracts with current tourism operators while also campaigning for new tourism agency contacts.
Committed to the success of this project, the community will contribute over 50% of the needed project funds.
