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Success - Rural Tourism:
Our leadership’s first innovation goal in 2002 was this; to establish a locally-owned group of unique tourism businesses in a rural area where there were none in order to create good paying jobs in a respectful environment and provide a continuous engine of growth and development for the community for years to come. In short, we did it.
To date the Nebaj “El Descanso” tourism social enterprise has been running profitably for nearly seven years, is entirely owned and run by Maya Ixiles and has generated revenues of over $550,000. In the tough economic times of 2007 and 2008 alone these businesses earned nearly $150,000. And imagine how this has multiplied itself in the community. These businesses without question have been and continue to be the biggest generator of new capital (tourism income) for the entire region. No other development project has come close. And as for impact, the revenues generated from this one initiative are more than double our ENTIRE funding and budget since we began our work in Guatemala. And given that the average Maya Ixil earns roughly $3 a day, this is equivalent to over 183,000 days of revenue. And the individuals who began as waiters in this social enterprise are now leaders in other CE Solutions initiatives. Isn’t that what development is all about? Success has been achieved for our first initiative but our mission is not yet completed. We continue to create concrete benefits for tens of thousands of Guatemalans every year.
More information about the Nebaj "El Descanso" tourism social enterprises can be found at www.nebaj.com.
Recognizing the economic benefits to the community that responsibly established and well-designed tourists activities bring along with the opportunity to create new local employment opportunities are the reasons that CE Solutions initially ventured into tourism focused businesses in the first place. The Nebaj “El Descanso” tourism social enterprises include:
El Descanso Restaurant
El Descanso Restaurant was started in January 2002 by CE Solutions leadership along with a group of dedicated Ixil folks. El Descanso is in many aspects the seed that grew into what CE Solutions is today. Our goal for El Descanso has been to provide well-paying employment opportunities to hard working, service oriented people in the hopes of forming a team that would work to offer something new and different in the Ixil area.Employees are involved in every step of the decision making process and receives a portion of the profits and scholarships. Because of this, the El Descanso team feels a sense of ownership and strives to make their restaurant the best it can possibly be. Moreover, a part of every centavo that spent in El Descanso goes to development projects in the area, including the Centro Explorativo.
La Red Internet Cafe and ISP
When we established “La Red” (“the net” in English) Internet Café in July of 2003 Nebaj was primed for an Internet explosion. At the time there was only one other Internet center in the area, which was funded completely by USAID as a “project”. As we had seen with so many development “projects” in the area, where there is no incentive to be “the best” and no need for self-sustainability, a decline in quality of service will be eminent. Unfortunately, this was the case with the existing Internet center in Nebaj. Service had become so slow and unreliable that no one would use it, eventually forcing it to close.At the time we had already established other tourism focused businesses and recognized a need to have Internet signal in Nebaj to accommodate the needs of foreigners working, living and travelling in the area. We also wanted to be able to provide a low cost service to locals so that they would not be left out of the technology loop, so we decided to invest in a small infrastructure that would allow us to provide Internet service in one central location, a cafe. With economic pricing and high quality service, the Internet Cafe was an instant success.
As the supply of Internet in the area has increased locals continue to find value in its use. In 2005, recognizing this trend of increased demand by locals coupled with the constant presence of foreigners (tourists, volunteers and development workers) led us to take this initiative to new level and to introduce WiFi (wireless) technology to the area. CE Solutions has provided support to the WiFi initiative with the development of innovative sales strategies, contracts for service recipients, marketing packages and the overall strategy for growth and will continue to assist with technical issues with equipment, expense of additional equipment and quality assurance of the service we are providing when needed. As the “early adaptor”, “La Red” should be able to maintain its current market “leader” status and grow intelligently with as demand rises.
Ixil Guides Trekking Service
Nebaj’s unspoiled mountain countryside provides some of the most beautiful sights in all of Central America. Rare flora and fauna, stunning cloud top views, cascading waterfalls and pristine Mayan villages create the ideal environment for hikers. Before we started “Ixil Guides Trekking Service” in 2003, there existed two options for people interested in hiking in the area, a) find a map and go out alone or b) pay an extremely high price to be accompanied by a guide. With only those two options available, many potential hikers were lost to other areas where various hiking companies existed and a fair price had been established through local competition.Ixil Guides Trekking Service continues to grow and improve its services through the training of new guides, developing new routes and a continuous promotional campaign that includes the distribution of informational pamphlets in other tourist areas of the country as well as promotion of the web site www.nebaj.com. Ixil Guides Trekking Service will continue to be one of the driving forces in our efforts to attract foreign and local travellers to Nebaj with the hopes of continuing to stimulate the local economy and strengthen all of the tourism based initiatives and business models.
Nebaj Language School
Nebaj Language School (“NLS”) was created to work as both a standalone initiative as well as an integral part of the "tourism" push CE Solutions had been promting in the area through the creation of other tourism initiatives such as "El Descanso Restaraunt" and "La Red Internet Cafe". Specifically, NLS was started with the goals of:
- Create economic opportunities for highly motivated local teachers and families
- Attract adventurous people to this amazing corner of the world in order to stimulate the local economy and help create a constant influx of foreign spending
- Provide top-notch language training and immersion at a fair price for all
- Provide students with an opportunity to learn and enjoy the cultural and historical richness of the Ixil Region
The Nebaj Language School continues to grow and improve its services through teacher trainings and a continuous promotion on a national and international level.
International Hostel "Media Luna Media Sol"
Media Luna Media Sol is a tourism initiative that began in 2005 in an effort to complete the Nebaj tourism "package". While many hotels (5) already existed in the area when we began, there were very limited quality options for the low budget traveller/backpacker. As well, "Hostelling", which for many travellers is almost a “way of life” was impossible as there were no hostel options in the Ixil region at this time. So with the goal of creatinga few new jobs and the opportunity to draw more tourists to Nebaj by providing a very economic and secure way to have international student groups spend time in Nebaj, Media Luna Media Sol was born.Now three years later, Media Luna Media Sol has become a fairly well know establishment both on a local and national level and easily covers costs and regularly generates a small monthly profit, even when tourism is low. The hostel continues to gain more and more international attention as it establishes itself fully into the "hostelling" network and should continue to provide a high quality service for touriists for years to come.
Artisan Consignment Store "Tetz Chemol"
Tetz Chemol (“for artisans” in Ixil) was opened in Nebaj on February 1st, 2003 by CE Solutions Executive Director Greg Van Kirk, a local businessman/teacher and three employees. After having lived in Nebaj for nearly two years and having worked with hundreds of artisans through his work in village banking Greg observed that too often it is the middlemen who make the money and the artisans are left out. There were people all throughout the Ixil area doing amazing work who unfortunately do not have an outlet to sell their crafts, or if they did have an outlet, fair practices were not followed. In addition, it seemed that all artisans were selling the same products. These were products that were beautiful and of high quality, but would only be bought for souvenir purposes, not for practical use by travellers. So with the following goals Tetz Chemol was established:
- To offer a place where artisans in the area could sell their weavings ensuring that they, the artisans, receive the compensation that they deserve
- To help local artisans design and promote new products taking advantage of the skills and abilities that they already have in order to achieve greater product diversity and meet the desires of their customers more accurately
To date, Tetz Chemol has helped hunderds of local artisans improve, promote and sell their products at a fair price to both Guatemalans and International travellers.
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