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Tourism for Development in La Merced May 2013

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Tourism for Development in La Merced May 2013 Tourism for Development in La Merced May 2013 By Linda Cadavid, Lacy Davis, Caitlin Goodman, Emily McKenna, Jessica Tallarico and Julie Tam Table of Contents Tourism for Development in La Merced ................................................................................. 1 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................... 4 Acronyms .............................................................................................................................. 4 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 6 1.1 Problem Statement ..................................................................................................................6 1.2 Client Profile ...........................................................................................................................8 1.3 New School Team Profile .........................................................................................................9 2. Tourism for Development ................................................................................................ 11 2.1 Findings ................................................................................................................................. 15 3. Tourism in Colombia ........................................................................................................ 16 3.1 Policy .....................................................................................................................................16 3.1.1 National Level ............................................................................................................................ 16 3.1.2 Departmental level ..................................................................................................................... 19 3.1.3 Subregional/ Municipal Level .................................................................................................... 19 3.2 Findings ................................................................................................................................. 22 4. Tourism Association ......................................................................................................... 22 4.1 La Merced Tourism Association (IFP 2012) .......................................................................... 22 4.2 Re-formation of Tourism Association .................................................................................... 23 4.3 Findings ................................................................................................................................. 24 5. Community Based Tourism .............................................................................................. 24 5.1 Community Based Tourism- A National Initiative ................................................................. 25 5.2 Community Based Tourism in La Merced ............................................................................. 27 5.3 Collaborative Tourism Planning Approach ........................................................................... 32 5.3.1 La Merced’s Current Collaborative Planning Approach............................................................ 32 5.3.2 Case Studies for Collaborative Tourism Planning ..................................................................... 34 5.4 Findings ................................................................................................................................. 35 6. Youth Inclusion in Tourism ............................................................................................... 36 6.1 Youth Participation and Colombia’s Democracy ................................................................... 36 6.2 Youth Participation as articulated in Development Plans ...................................................... 38 6.2.1 Strategies for Youth Inclusion ................................................................................................... 39 6.3 Youth in tourism development Case Study ............................................................................ 40 6.4 Education in Tourism Development ...................................................................................... 42 6.4.1 SENA Courses ........................................................................................................................... 42 6.4.2 High School School Involvement in Tourism in La Merced ..................................................... 44 6.4.3. Elementary School Involvement in Tourism in La Merced ...................................................... 46 6.5 Summary of Youth Observations .......................................................................................... 47 7. Marketing for Tourism Development ............................................................................... 48 2 7.1 Marketing in Colombia ......................................................................................................... 48 7.1.1 Early Stage Marketing ............................................................................................................... 50 7.1.2 Magic is the Answer .................................................................................................................. 51 7.1.3 Websites ..................................................................................................................................... 53 7.1.4 Social Media .............................................................................................................................. 54 7.2 Marketing in La Merced........................................................................................................ 55 7.2.1 Strengths .................................................................................................................................... 56 7.2.2 Weaknesses ................................................................................................................................ 58 7.2.3 Opportunities .............................................................................................................................. 59 7.2.4 Threats ........................................................................................................................................ 60 7.3 Findings ..................................................................................................................................61 Findings and Recommendations .......................................................................................... 62 Appendices ......................................................................................................................... 71 Appendix 1: Maps ....................................................................................................................... 71 Appendix 2: National Laws & Policies Timeline ......................................................................... 74 Appendix 3: Caldas Development Plan 2012-2015....................................................................... 75 Appendix 4: Subregional/Municipal Development Plan - Tourism.............................................. 75 Appendix 5: Community Based Tourism Case Studies ............................................................... 77 Appendix 6: Collaborative Planning Case Studies....................................................................... 79 Appendix 7: Youth Inclusion case study ...................................................................................... 80 Appendix 8: Subregional/Municipal Development Plan - Youth Participation ............................ 80 Appendix 9: SENA courses ......................................................................................................... 82 Appendix 10: Business Survey .................................................................................................... 88 Appendix 11: Terms of Reference ............................................................................................... 99 Appendix 12: Subregional Tourism Matrix ............................................................................... 103 Appendix 12: Project Timeline ................................................................................................. 110 Works Cited....................................................................................................................... 111 3 Acronyms GPIA- Graduate Program in International Affairs IFP- International Field Program PIA- Practicum in International Affairs SENA- Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje ToR- Terms of Reference UAM- Universidad de Manizales UNWTO- United Nations World Tourism Organization ICBF- Instituto Colombiano Bienestar Familiar 4 Executive Summary La Merced, Caldas has started to grow the tourism industry to address the economic stagnation in the two main agricultural sectors, coffee and cattle and to provide incentive for youth and other residents to stay in the town. The La Merced PIA team is a consultant on the initiative to promote tourism in La Merced. This partnership between the New School and La Merced was built on a tourism initiative that was established between the IFP 2012 participants and the Municipality of La Merced. Based on the IFP 2012 report delivered to the municipality, La Merced’s four year development plan, the PIA research
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