Project title:  SUSTAINABLE TOURISM AND BIRDWATCHING AT LUICHUPUCRO

Country:   PERU

Region: AMERICAS

Current status:  Concluded

Duration (est.)/dates: June 2008 – December 2009

Partner entities:    Association for the Rescue of the Ecosystem of Cajamarca ( APREC),  Directorate of Foreign Trade and Tourism (DIRCETUR), SNV Peru

Source(s) of Funding: ST-EP Foundation

Executing Agency:  Association for the Rescue of the Ecosystem of Cajamarca ( APREC)

Main project objective: to provide the residents of Luichupucro with an alternative source of employment and income.

Luichupucro is located in the region of Cajamarca in the Inca Trail and receives an average of 300 national and international tourists per year. APREC has developed four tourist routes for hiking and biking that allow visitors to enjoy nature. Additionally, the last population of Ventigris hummingbird is present in Luichupucro, which is a claim for the segment of the birding tourism and ecotourism.

Activities:

1. Development of accommodation and tours: The Luichupucro farmhouse was equipped to receive tourists; it has capacity for 10 people. Tours to Refugio del Venado, bird watching tourism and ecotourism were organized. Reforestation activities were also carried out to improve the quality of the trails and preserve the environment.

2. Capacity building: Various trainings (12 courses/ 165 participants/ 108 women) were carried out with community members on tourism management, accountability, tour guiding and handicraft production and an exchange of experiences visit was organized to Granja Porcón (75 people).

3. Promotion: A brochure was developed and distributed in tourism fairs (Baños del Inca, FONGAL and Peru Travel Mart) and during meetings with tour operators.

Main project outputs/deliverables: A community tourism association was established (Asociación de turismo sostenible en la modalidad de turismo vivencial, aviturismo y protección ambiental) to manage the tourism offer (22 members) and preserve the habitat of the hummingbirds and a community fund was created, and benefits are generated from the sales of handicrafts and meals to tourists.

Remarks: At the end of the project, some first groups of tourists had made use of the new products developed, and acollaboration was established with the hotel Laguna Seca in Cajamarca, providing positive expectations for a steady increase of visitors to the destination.