Guatemala Community Tourism Alliance

This project strives to create and support a larger number of community-based tourism enterprises in rural areas through the value chain approach. These small and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMEs), called such because of the number of employees in each enterprise, are only a part of the plan to enhance the capacity of local community to co-manage and conserve cultural resources through tourism.

Since tourism is such a lucrative industry, Counterpart International (Counterpart) works with Guatemalan tourism enterprises to conserve their natural resources while attracting travelers to the beauties of the country, ultimately rebuilding and advancing the country's economy. With the right tools to avoid habitat destruction and displacement of local wildlife, Guatemala can break into the rewarding tourism industry and improve its long-term stability.

The project works to improve access to marketing, product design and financial services for tourism SMEs while strengthening local community support for and participation in the conservation of biological diversity in the regions around program tourism sites.

Latest Update: Following three years of implementation, the project has generated $5 million dollars of additional sales, created 1,045 new jobs and strengthened 661 small and medium enterprises.

To learn more about Counterpart's Community Tourism Alliance in Guatemala, please read the following feature stories:

Communities Reinvigorated Through Tourism

Handicraft Trade Show a Huge Success in Guatemala

Photo: © Rony Mejía/Counterpart International.