The most recent GSTA Success
Story is about Community Conservation Area (CCA) committee members in Ethiopia's Central Rift Valley learning about sustainable forest management.
The latest Ethiopia Sustainable Tourism Alliance (ESTA) Success Story highlights the results of community tourism business planning activities by graduate students from George Washington University, Ethiopian tourism students from the University of Hawassa, ESTA staff and consultants, and ESTA partners SNV and EWNHS.
The
Global Sustainable Tourism Alliance (GSTA) released 2 new success
stories this month, highlighting some of the important work being done
by the GSTA and its Managing Partners.
Download the Dominican Republic success stories here:
USAID's GSTA and EQUIP3 LWA's, with support from the George Washington University (GWU) and Educational Development Center, Inc. (EDC) recently launched the Guide to Assessing and Designing Tourism Workforce Development Programs - With a special focus on job and career opportunities for youth.
Primary authors were: Alexandra Bonifaz of EDC, Don Hawkins of GWU and Ron Israel of EDC.
Contributors included: Roberta Hilbruner of USAID and Clare Ignatowski of USAID
The
Global Sustainable Tourism Alliance (GSTA) released 14 new success
stories this month, highlighting some of the important work being done
by the GSTA and its Managing Partners.
The Global Sustainable Tourism Alliance (GSTA) released two new success stories this month highlighting some of the important work being done by the GSTA and its Managing Partners.
GSTA Leader Award Success Story
Extra! Extra!
GSTA outreach and public relations campaign grabs attention through Travel Hot Spots News Bulletin and Pathways Newsletter. Through a series of online and circulated news bulletins and newsletters, the GSTA has continued to positively influence and shape the way tourism is done throughout the world.
Mountain Gorillas Join Facebook
Hollywood celebrities and Uganda Wildlife Authority launch Friend-a-Gorilla campaign in support of conservation in Uganda
What do Hollywood celebrities, mountain gorillas, and Facebook have in common? The Internet, and the newly launched online Friend-a-Gorilla (www.friendagorilla.org) campaign.
September 2009 marked the completion of the successful GSTA Project in Ecuador. Over the past two and a half years, the Alianza Ecuatoriana para el Turismo Sostenible (AETS) has made significant gains in developing sustainable tourism as a means to improve protected areas in Ecuador while demonstrating social, cultural, and economic benefits to rural populations as a result. The AETS management established the first tourism program office within the Ministry of Environment (MAE) to help govern sustainable tourism development in protected areas; implemented a national marketing strategy with the Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR) to support the new protected area tourism program; and to demonstrate tangible results, succeeded in eight key protected areas to build visitor infrastructure, implement state of the art monitoring tools and mechanisms to mitigate tourism impacts; create and strengthen four innovative community-based enterprises, increase market access for over one hundred businesses and communities, and gain widespread public support for protected areas in Ecuador. The eight protected areas that benefited directly from the program include: Cotopaxi; Chimborazo; Mangalares Churute; Machalilla, Cotocachi-Cayapas, Cayambe-Coca, Yasuni-Cuyabeno and the Galapagos.
Tour guide training to strengthen bird-watching expertise in Ecaudor's protected areas.
GSTA Managing Partner, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), recently announced the completion of a comprehensive study on the valuation of tourism in Peru's protected areas. The Spanish-language document is now available for downloading and is called Valoración Económica del Turismo en el Sistema Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado (Economic Valuation of Tourism in the National System of Protected Areas of the State of Peru). The most important partners for the study were the Ministry of the Environment (for the ownership and presentation of the study), the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (during the study), the National Service of Protected Natural Areas (during all stages of the study) and the private tourism sector (represented by the President of the Hotel Association of Peru).
Since the Friend-A-Gorilla program launched on September 26th, there has been an unprecedented amount of media attention promoting this innovative campaign. The friendagorilla.org website allows users to track a gorilla for a donation of $1 minimum and then helps donors stay connected with social networking sites including facebook.com and twitter.com. Almost 13,000 followers have befriended gorillas thus far and the number continues to grow rapidly each day. Read more background information about the GSTA supported Friend-A-Gorilla program.
For an overview of the celebrity trip to Uganda and the warm reception by the local communities view this video
Of the more than 500 news articles generated about the program world-wide, the following are some of the more notable television clips and newspaper articles:
In conjunction with the National Geographic Society's Center for Sustainable Destinations, National Geographic Traveler Magazine National Geographic Traveler has devoted its sixth annual “Places Rated” Destination Stewardship survey to the world’s most celebrated and iconic travel destinations and how well they have weathered the pressures of mass tourism and other threats. The survey is the cover story of the November-December 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine, on newsstands Nov. 3rd.
A total of 133 destinations were surveyed by a panel of 437
well-traveled experts in a variety of fields related to sustainable
tourism. Chris Seek and David Brown of Solimar International, a
Managing Partner of the GSTA, were among the experts in the panel.
The total population of
the world’s mountain gorillas is approximately 760 animals; more than half are
found in Uganda. Although the gorillas are only one of the many examples of
Uganda’s diverse wildlife, these rare and charismatic giants are a symbol of
the natural assets of the country and a champion for conservation awareness and
efforts in the region. In a country challenged by poverty and threats to its
biodiversity resources, the gorilla have the opportunity to become the
flag-bearer to promote the country’s sustainable tourism offer, while also
highlighting to the people of Uganda the unique characteristics and sustainable
economic opportunities in their country.
In a bid to raise
awareness of conservation at a national and global level as well as build
Uganda’s image as a prime sustainable tourism destination, the Uganda Wildlife
Authority (UWA) with support from the USAID funded STAR - Uganda (Sustainable
Tourism in the Albertine Rift) program, launched an awareness and promotional
campaign, Friend-a-Gorilla (www.friendagorilla.org).The campaign uses social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to inform
people about the Gorilla’s activities and build awareness of these unique
animals. People can ‘friend’ a gorilla, learn about their gorilla, see video’s
and pictures, and get updates from the rangers on their activities. The program
officially launched on Saturday September 26th and already has 6,000
followers on Facebook. The program was also covered in many media outlets,
including on USA Today and Time Magazine.
To
assist UWA in this effort, STAR mobilised Hollywood stars Jason Biggs, Kristy Wu, and Simon Curtis, to help launch the
campaign and act as Uganda’s human spokespeople for conservation in the
country. These stars, with their strong international followings on the
internet and in the media helped to build awareness of the canpaign and Uganda.
The stars joined in the gorilla trekking as part of the launch along with the
Uganda cabinet Minister of Tourism Kahinda Otafire.
On 10 July, Conservation International (CI) organized an event at the Radisson Hotel to present new and potential tourism products to some of the largest Ecuadorian private tour operators to define the needs and interests of tourists in three of the areas where the Alliance works and to improve the appeal of new tourism products to a variety of local and international customers. The event started with a presentation by TNC of the proposed rehabilitation of the Oyacachi-El Chaco trail in Cayambe-Coca, followed by a presentation of the work being done to help regulate and manage tourism activities in Machalilla National Park (PNM) and Cotacachi Cayapas Ecological Reserve (RECC) in coordination with implementation partners ECOLAP and Green Consulting.
On July 9, TNC conducted a day-long workshop to maximize the usefulness of the GIS maps recently produced and handed over to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. TNC brought 20 different MAE and MINTUR staff members from various protected areas and departments to train them on how manipulate GIS maps and make better use of them as conservation and promotional tools.
From July 20 to July 23, Rainforest Alliance brought 20 CORDTUCH members to Las Palmeras and Cusin, two high end haciendas located near Otavalo, to learn firsthand what it means to offer and improve the quality of services in hotels and restaurants.
On July 21, the CI-ECOLAP team met in Manta with Minister of the Environment (MAE), Marcela Aguiñaga, Sub-Secretary of Environmental Management for the Coastal Area, Manfred Altamirano, Environmental Director for Manabí Province, Roddy Macias and PNM Park Manager Vicente Alvarez to present and review advances made in the establishment of the new Visitor Management System (SIMAVIS) in Machalilla National Park and the Cotacachi Cayapas Ecological Reserve. By the end of the presentation, the Minister stated her commitment to providing financial and technical support for the development and adaption of SIMAVIS in all highly visited protected areas of Ecuador.
On July 19, Fundación Metis conducted a seminar for communication representatives and journalists from various organizations and media such as the Journalists Association of Guayas, Fundación Dukers and members of the Espiritu Santo University. The two main objectives of this seminar were to increase awareness amongst national journalists on challenges linked to the management of protected areas and to subsequently capacitate them on Web 2.0 technology to strengthen their ability to diffuse media content.
In July, Fundación Metis pursued its awareness campaigns in Chimborazo Wildlife Reserve, Manglares Churute Ecological Reserve and Cayambe Coca Ecological Reserve. During this third phase of implementation, Metis trained community members on to the use puppets (mascots) to create dynamic and appealing environmental messages for children. Puppet shows were designed to spread a conservation message among a targeted audience with the active involvement of local educational and environmental actors.
Follow-up communication with MAE staff members in Machalilla National Park and Chimborazo Wildlife Reserve shows that months after the first-time implementation of the Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) methodology, capacitated staff are still making use of this new monitoring and tourism management tool.
On July 2, The Nature Conservancy in collaboration with Manglares Churute Reserve’s staff conducted a workshop on the development of “The Tourism Model for the Manglares Churute Ecological Reserve”. Participants included 20 individuals including naturalist guides, representatives of the Municipality of Guayaquil, universities, tour operators, and Alliance members.
On July 8, 2009 the La Caleta community completed the last of three workshops in the Community Integrated Business Planning Process of USAID’s Dominican Sustainable Tourism Alliance (DTSA). At the end of this final workshop Glada Osuma, President of the Neighborhood Association called it “the best workshop” she has ever attended and that she leaves “feeling ready” to develop tourism in her community.
Conservation International, Citizen Development Corps, Counterpart International, EplerWood International, Nathan Associates, National Geographic Society, Rainforest Alliance, RARE, University of Hawaii School of Travel Industry Management, UNESCO World Heritage Center, U.S.D.A. Forest Service-Heritage Design
Newsroom 
On 10 July, Conservation International (CI) organized an event at the Radisson Hotel to present new and potential tourism products to some of the largest Ecuadorian private tour operators to define the needs and interests of tourists in three of the areas where the Alliance works and to improve the appeal of new tourism products to a variety of local and international customers. The event started with a presentation by TNC of the proposed rehabilitation of the Oyacachi-El Chaco trail in Cayambe-Coca, followed by a presentation of the work being done to help regulate and manage tourism activities in Machalilla National Park (PNM) and Cotacachi Cayapas Ecological Reserve (RECC) in coordination with implementation partners ECOLAP and Green Consulting. 
On July 9, TNC conducted a day-long workshop to maximize the usefulness of the GIS maps recently produced and handed over to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. TNC brought 20 different MAE and MINTUR staff members from various protected areas and departments to train them on how manipulate GIS maps and make better use of them as conservation and promotional tools.
On July 19, Fundación Metis conducted a seminar for communication representatives and journalists from various organizations and media such as the Journalists Association of Guayas, Fundación Dukers and members of the Espiritu Santo University. The two main objectives of this seminar were to increase awareness amongst national journalists on challenges linked to the management of protected areas and to subsequently capacitate them on Web 2.0 technology to strengthen their ability to diffuse media content.
