USAID Conservation of Central American Watersheds Program: Bi-National Sustainable Tourism Alliance Marketing Materials

The park is home to over 20% of Central America's biodiversity, featuring a diverse range of flora, fauna, and indigenous communities. Despite its wealth of tourism offerings, the park receives few visitors due to its remote location and lack of promotion. The cross-frontier position of La Amistad International Park presents unique collaborative opportunities for the destinations of Bocas del Toro, Panama, and Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, which serve as gateways to the park. Through the support of the USAID-CCAW program, Solimar International facilitated the establishment of a bi-national strategic alliance, branded La Ruta Amistad, between the destinations of Puerto Viejo and Bocas del Toro. The alliance aims to raise awareness of all the tourism offerings that exist along this trans-boundary route, with the goal of capturing more visitors en route to either destination. The ultimate goal of fostering sustainable tourism development in this region is to encourage the conservation of the Cahuita-La Amistad-Río Cañas-Bocas del Toro watershed through linking its protection among local residents to an income-generating activity. This goal is shared by the two organizations that currently comprise the alliance, the Bocas Sustainable Tourism Alliance (BSTA) and the Talamancan Association of Ecotourism and Conservation (ATEC). BSTA is a destination management organization composed of Bocas del Toro's many tourism-based enterprises. It was established through the support of the USAID Conservation of Central American Watersheds Program to promote sustainable tourism products and educate travelers on the natural and cultural resources available in the province and how to travel responsibly. ATEC, on the other hand, is Puerto Viejo's original eco-tourism provider, working to help visitors find ecologically and socially responsible activities within the Talamanca region of Costa Rica. In July 2009, members of the Solimar International team traveled to Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica, to establish contact with leaders from ATEC and discuss the formation of a bi-national alliance with BSTA. The alliance agreed to develop a co-branded promotional passport to increase awareness of La Amistad International Park and the community-based attractions along La Ruta Amistad between Puerto Viejo and Bocas del Toro. The passport aims to highlight the tourism products available within the route to and from Bocas del Toro and Puerto Viejo, as well as provide useful travel tips for tourists when traveling in the region. The development of the co-branded promotional passport represents the first marketing initiative of the newly established bi-national sustainable tourism alliance between BSTA and ATEC. The passport was designed to promote the La Amistad region, including its biodiversity, indigenous groups, history, economy, and other attractions. The final version of the promotional passport is included in Appendix B of the document. A total of 3,000 promotional passports were printed on 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper and will be distributed to travelers through various channels, including information centers, member businesses, and strategic distribution points within the region. To sustain this initiative, a memorandum of understanding was drafted in which BSTA and ATEC agreed to ask tourists for a voluntary donation of either US$1 or US$2 in exchange for receiving a promotional passport. These donations will go into a fund dedicated to reprinting the passports. Each party has also agreed to identify additional sources of funding within their respective organizations and national tourism authorities to continue promotional initiatives once support from the USAID-CCAW program has ended.