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NATURE-ORIENTED TOURISM IN ECUADOR. Bob Fries – ACDI/VOCA Marcela Correa – CARANA Corporation. November 16, 2006. OVERVIEW. Assessment Basics Objective, Process and Lessons Value Chain Characteristics End Markets Enabling Environment Interfirm Cooperation Support Services - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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NATURE-ORIENTED TOURISM IN ECUADOR
Bob Fries – ACDI/VOCAMarcela Correa – CARANA Corporation
November 16, 2006
OVERVIEW
• Assessment Basics– Objective, Process and Lessons
• Value Chain Characteristics– End Markets– Enabling Environment– Interfirm Cooperation– Support Services
• Competitive Strategy– Strategic Vision and Potential Action Items
• Tourism and Biodiversity: A Link?
ASSESSMENT BASICS - OBJECTIVE AND PROCESS
OBJECTIVE To provide information that helps key stakeholders develop a strategy
and action plan for making Ecuadorian ecotourism a more competitive and sustainable industry
PROCESS• Qualtitative analysis of “nature-related tourism” in 3 regions:
– Mindo, Puerto López/Parque Nacional Machalilla, Napo River basin
• Interviews: – 42 service providers (operators, lodging, support services)– 14 public sector entities – 8 associations – 27 tourists
• Stakeholder workshop
LESSON: VALUE CHAIN AND NWP FRAMEWORKS
Ownership
Functions
Input
Tour operators and service providers
Travel agents and wholesalers
End market
Buffer zones (cities)
High biodiversity areas
Localsupplies
Localnon-localsupplies
Lodges, restaurants,
other attractions
Lodges, restaurants,
other attractions
Eco-lodge
Local tour operators
Outbound tour operators
Inbound tour operators
Foreign and/or Ecuadorian tourists
Foreign and/or Ecuadorian tourists
Foreign and/or Ecuadorian tourists
Two important adaptations:
Resource Owners/ Managers
Actors in and out of sensitive zones
LESSON: ECUADOR’S COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE NOT TRANSLATED INTO COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
• Galápagos • Megadiversity • Indigenous cultures• Proximity of coast, sierra and Amazon regions
• …. But how about competitive advantage?
END MARKETS: RANKINGS FROM OUTBOUND OPERATORS
0.00.51.01.52.02.53.0Comfort
Security
Value
Experience
Ecuador
Peru
Costa Rica
Operators’ Perception: Ecuador is Competitive
END MARKETS: INTERNATIONAL TOURIST ARRIVALS
International Tourist Arrivals
0200400600800
1000120014001600
1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
(000s)
Ecuador
Peru
Costa Rica
Source: World Tourism Organization, 2005
A slower growth rate, declining market share
Market Share - Central and South America
0.0%
1.0%
2.0%
3.0%
4.0%
5.0%
6.0%
7.0%
8.0%
1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Ecuador
Peru
Costa Rica
END MARKETS: INTERNATIONAL TOURISM RECEIPTS
Tourism Receipts
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
$US
mil
lio
ns
Ecuador
Peru
Costa Rica
Source: World Tourism Organization, 2005
A decline in earnings
ENABLING ENVIRONMENT
• Tourism infrastructure and related systems– Potential high impact of targeted upgrades of facilities &
infrastructure
• Public sector capacity– Planning, regulatory and enforcement capabilities, and
resources for sustainable tourism across all levels of government
– Tourism investment not proportional to its role in the economy
• Limited public-private cooperation
• Decentralization– Key to local empowerment?
INTER-FIRM COOPERATION MINDO
MindoHigh biodiversity areas Buffer zones (cities)
To
ur
op
era
tors
an
d
serv
ice
pro
vid
ers
Tra
vel a
ge
nts
an
d
wh
ole
sale
rsE
nd
ma
rke
tIn
pu
tO
wn
ers
hip
Local supplies
Outbound tour operators
Inbound tour operators
Foreign tourists-high-mid/ end-
Ecuadorian tourists
-high end-
Ecuadorian and foreign
tourists-low-end-
Guides
Private ownership
Government / private
ownership (Bosque
Protector Mindo Nambillo)
Local restaurants -
groceries
Transport
Local tour operators
Lodge, butterfly
farm, restaurants
(n=7)Hotels, lodges (B&B)
(n=>30)
Linkages Along Two Market Channels
The destination’s disconnected anchor
Higher end birdwatching meets lower end recreation
Value chain learning and benefits vs. low-cost competition
Congestion and litter
Horizontal linkages – will they bridge the gap?
FIRMS SERVING DISTINCT END MARKETS
INTER-FIRM COOPERATIONLOWER NAPO
Vertically integrated independent operations
Public protected areas
Key to success?—
Indigenous community + NGO = private joint venture
Lower NapoHigh biodiversity areas Buffer zones (cities)
To
ur
op
era
tors
an
d
serv
ice
pro
vid
ers
Private ownership
Ow
ne
rsh
ipT
rave
l ag
en
ts a
nd
w
ho
lesa
lers
En
d m
ark
et
Inp
ut Non local
supplies
Outbound tour operators
Foreign tourists -high-mid end-
Local tour operators
Community based
lodge (high end) n=1
Government (Parque
Nacional Yasuní, Reserva
Biológica Limoncocha,
Reserva Forestal
Pañacocha) and Local
communities
High-mid end
lodges
Inbound tour operators
Indigenous territories
Community based lodge
n=1
Scientific research stations
Local supplies
Vertical Linkages, Niche Markets
and Conservation
PRIVATE SECTOR INCENTIVES TO INVEST IN PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE
SUPPORT SERVICES
• Lack of lending products for tourism enterprises
• Paucity of market information– International marketing opportunities through CORPEI &
FondoMixto
• Availability of hospitality and business development training via NGOs, universities, vocational centers, GOE and others
STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOP
• Two Sessions• Thirty Stakeholders
– Operators– Community Associations– Ministry of Tourism
• Focus on Opportunities and Constraints• Limitation – Not Ready for Strategic Plan
FOUR ELEMENTS OF A STRATEGIC VISION
1. A national brand as the leader in sustainable tourism
2. Responsive to market demand
3. Conscious link to more effective natural resource management
4. Increased collaboration between value chain actors
SHORT-TERM ACTION ITEMS
Enabling Environment Initiatives• E-efficiencies• Streamline legalization process• Concessions and differentiated fee strategy in protected
areas
…And not very short-term• Clear delineation of roles and responsibilities
– between ministries – between national and local levels of government
• Zoning and planning
SHORT-TERM ACTION ITEMS
Interfirm Cooperation
• Targeted local collaboration– Local Stakeholder session– EcoRuta– Codes of conduct– limits of acceptable change systems – information services
– Collaborative websites, reservation systems
• Upgrading of key attractions – signage, interpretive trails,
information and restroom facilities
Firm-level Upgrading
• Business alliances
• Targeted training – Guide training
– Tourism and NRM training for key protected area sites
– Specialized training
FINDINGS – SHORT-TERM ACTION ITEMS
Support Services
• Loan products for upgrades – e.g., software, safety or waste management investments
• Market analysis – Local analysis of market segments and customer
satisfaction– Feedback loop with Fondo Mixto’s overseas analysis
• Longer term – contract firm to manage a statistical system
ECOTOURISM AND NRMCAN THEY SUPPORT EACH OTHER?
• Yes, if– Scarce natural resource is important element of the
destination– Effective business/NR management capacity exists– Local communities benefit
• Think more broadly than ecotourism.
• Facilitate local planning and collaboration around immediate benefits
• Longer term, national level priorities:– Planning and enforcement, – Flow of market information, technical knowledge, and
promotion services
QUESTIONS?
THANK YOU! Please visit www.microlinks.org/breakfast for
seminar presentations and papers
Bob Fries, [email protected] Correa, [email protected]
November 16, 2006