The Diplomat
In order to promote community-based tourism, protect Colombia’s invaluable natural and cultural heritage, and generate tangible benefits for local communities, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism are launching the ‘Community Tourism Innovation Challenge: Colombia’.
This challenge seeks to promote innovation and growth in the sector and also to ensure that the selected initiatives contribute significantly to the Sustainable Development Goals. In this way, the call seeks to identify the most innovative ideas to improve the quality of life of local communities and promote responsible, sustainable and regenerative tourism in the country.
The challenge will promote disruptive and innovative initiatives that motivate the conservation and regeneration of Colombia’s natural and cultural heritage, empowering local communities and promoting their effective linkage to the value chain.
Initiatives may approach the presentation of their proposals from the following angles of innovation: 1) Communities that build peace, 2) Ethnic communities, 3) Rural and urban communities, 4) Women and youth, and 5) Companies that promote community-based tourism.
Tourism as an instrument for human development
The Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arturo Bravo, said that “for the Government of Colombia, tourism is an instrument for guaranteeing rights and human development. For this reason, we believe in the promotion of community-based tourism as a way to expand the value chain and that, from the sector, more Colombians can obtain social justice and economic justice for their territories and families”.
Natalia Bayona, UNWTO Executive Director: “Innovation is the main tool for tourism development in Colombia. The challenge will bring the opportunity to give visibility to communities and entrepreneurs who bet on a new Colombia where handicrafts, rural areas, local livelihoods and the empowerment of youth and women help diversify the country’s positioning and strengthen the sector in areas of the country that in many cases have been victims of the conflict and see tourism as a synonym of hope”.
This challenge is open to entrepreneurs, non-profit organisations (ESALES), Community Based Organisations, formal Colombian companies and companies in consolidation in any sector, validly constituted; to develop initiatives related to community tourism in Colombia or involve communities as suppliers within their commercial offer.
Initiatives from international entrepreneurs and companies are also accepted, as long as they have an impact on Colombian territory and communities.
From the 5 categories, 20 initiatives will be chosen that fully comply with the required characteristics and stand out from the other applications for their ability to contribute to the recovery and transformation of community tourism.
The selected proposals will be invited to participate in an acceleration through workshops and mentoring, and to present their projects at the Tourism Tech Adventure: Colombia, a flagship forum developed by UNWTO to strengthen the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, which unites the actors of the innovation ecosystem and will be held in 2024.
The challenge also has the support of the Colombian-American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) as a strategic ally. Several actors of the public tourism ecosystem will also join the call, such as the Civil Aeronautics, the Colombian Presidential Agency for International Cooperation (APC), Innpulsa Colombia, and Artesanías de Colombia.
Other institutions that will contribute to the challenge’s scope and coverage are the Bogota Chamber of Commerce, Econexia and Innovalab, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the EAN University, the University of the Andes, the Externado University of Colombia and the SENA.
World Tourism Day
This global launch comes just days after the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism and Fontur joined the celebrations for World Tourism Day on 27 September with the celebration of InnovaT360º, the first Innovation, Technology and Sustainability Meeting, where they promoted the challenge at the local level.
This meeting included a simultaneous celebration that brought together local authorities, community leaders, investors, entrepreneurs and tour operators in 10 cities across the country: Popayán, Quibdó, San Andrés y Providencia, Montería, Armenia, Yopal, Florencia, Bucaramanga, Inírida and Tunja.
