Country : Ecuador

Organization: ECOVITA

Year the initiative began: 2005

Project Website: Website

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Deseo postularme

Geotourism Challenge Addressed by Entrant:

Quality of tourist experience and educational benefit to tourists, Quality of benefit to residents for the destination, Quality of tourism management by destination leadership, Quality of stewardship of the destination

Organization size:

Small (1 to 100 employees)

Indicate sector in which you principally work:
Tourism-related business

Considering the value chain behind sustainable tourism projects, at which level does your work have considerable impact (please choose all the categories that apply):

• Consumers (travelers)
• Wholesalers
• Agents
• Operators
• Service providers
• Indigenous community groups
• Natural and cultural attractions

Primary field of activity:

• Nature
• Culinary or agritourism
• Adventure
• Education
• General tourism
• General destination stewardship/management

Does your innovation focus on these fields (select all that apply):

• Planning and destination management
• Innovation and product development
• Professionalization, best practices and sustainable tourism project certification
• Innovative marketing strategies for sustainable tourism and geotourism

What is the goal of your innovation? Please describe in one sentence the kind of impact, change, or reform your approach is intended to achieve.

Set up a Sustainable Tourism Management System with the proper framework to guarantee a process of continuous improvement .

Please write an overview of your project. Include how your approach supports or embodies geotourism or destination stewardship. This text will appear when people scroll over the icon for your entry on the map located on the competition homepage.

Ecovita – Organic Camping and Farm, where “Ecovita” means “ecological life," is devoted to sustainable agrotourism, ecotourism, and environmental education. We have been working since the year 2005 to achieve the goal of preserving nature and creating a harmony among visitors, forming the Ecovita family.
It is located in Pallatanga County, just two hours from the city of Guayaquil and five from Quito. Surrounded by tents and ecological rooms, Ecovita offers the possibility to enjoy an intimate contact with nature, immersed in the surrounding biological biodiversity.
We have comfortable fully-equipped tents, marital and four-pax rooms in cabins with hot water, exclusive restaurant, grill, swings, volley courts, football pitches, pool and ping pong tables, and mountain bikes. Visitors can also take guided treks to the mountains, or do birdwatching, and take an energizing bath in a cascade. And, at night, visitors do bonfires beside the Coco River, see theater plays and go to a karaoke pub.
We have the vision of a leader enterprise in sustainable tourism, contributing to the preservation of the environment and its visitors’ and community’s quality of life.
We apply the Good Practices of Sustainable Tourism. And have won the 2007 SKAL ECOTOURISM AWARD.

Explain in detail why your approach is innovative.

ECOVITA has a commitment to develop a Policy of Sustainable Tourism Management, which includes the following:
- Setting, implementing and periodically reviewing a Sustainable Tourism Management System that offers the appropriate framework to guarantee a continual improvement process.
- Complying with the applicable law, the features agreed upon with the clients and with every other obligation that has been voluntarily undertaken.
- Giving the proper training and information on environmental care, respect for the communities’ culture, and rescue and protection of the cultural heritage, flora and fauna. This is extended to all our staff, so that the commitment is undertaken in every level of our enterprise.
- Implementing a Sustainable Tourism Management System that monitors the compliance with this policy and includes action plans in the following areas: Environment, Socio-Culture, and Economics.
- Analyzing environmental impact and risks to maintain a sustainable tourism in every Ecovita’s project, investment, and business.
- Checking that all our staff and suppliers receive the adequate training to be competent in the fulfillment of their duties.
- Auditing the operative performance and management indicators to monitor the compliance with this Policy.

What is the origin of your innovation? Tell the Changemakers and media communities what prompted you to start this initiative.

ECOVITA is an organic camping and farm dedicated to sustainable agrotourism, ecotourism and environmental education.
18 years ago Civil Engineer Angel Salazar, father to the current Manager-Owner, Ricardo Salazar Alvarez, acquired the property extended in 1 ½ ha by the Coco River, Pallatanga County. They wanted it to be a family rest place. After some years, the son started studying Agronomy to make the field productive; the environmental practices came to light these days, since the cultivation was organic. Unfortunately the organic products failed to be successful, so in the year 2005 they ventured themselves into the tourism business, and promoted themselves in schools and colleges in Guayaquil. We decided to install tents for the visitors’ accommodation and several constructions were also built: the restaurant and rest areas. Later we built cabins for the Guayaquilian families visiting the place with little children or elder people.
The enterprise has been selected to try the project IMPLEMENTATION OF GOOD PRACTICES AND SUPPORT TO THE CERTIFICATION OF LITTLE AND SMALL TOURIST ENTERPRISES, sponsored by the Technical Assistance Co-Financing Fund for the BPM Implementation and Tourist Certification.
We also thought it was necessary to achieve long-term sustainable success in developing a SUSTAINABLE TOURISM MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers' marketing material.

Name: Ricardo David Salazar Alvarez
Birth Date: June 17, 1977
Birth Place: Guayaquil – Ecuador
Nationality: Ecuadorian
Marital Status: Single

Describe some unique tourist experiences that your approach provides. Be specific; give illustrative examples.

Treks and tours:
The cascades are ideal for guided treks. Depending on the tourist’s abilities and enthusiasm; the various mountains that surround us can be visited after a 2 or 3-hour walk, where beautiful bromelias, ferns, zanzibar balsams, coffee plants, tomatoes, and potatoes can be found, among many other beauties.
Of course, people can also enjoy a revitalizing bath in the cascade waters. And for those who prefer to do mountain biking, we also have the necessary equipment.
Butterfly and Bird Watching:
You may watch a great variety of butterflies, apart from watching and listening to the blackbirds, turtledoves, hummingbirds, ovenbirds, woodpeckers, etc.
Viewpoint visits:
There are natural viewpoints for those who like gazing at beautiful landscapes, such as the Balazul or the Sal Si Puedes Bridge, laid on a deep gully, considered to be the longest of the country in its kind, and which gave rise to the brotherhood between the coast and the mountains in the year 1977.
Agricultural and forest tasks:
Milk a cow, plant a tree, and prepare seedbeds.
Handcrafts and other workshops:
- Recycled paper
- Handcrafts
- T-shirt painting
- Encounters with the community
Night activities:
Bonfires take place by the Coco River, where the cloudy or clean sky can be admired, as well as the stars, shooting stars, and unidentified objects. People can also participate in the theater improvisations and the karaoke pub.

What types of partnerships or professional development would be most beneficial in spreading your innovation?

We worry about the environmental, socio-cultural and financial development of the county and the country; that is why we organize events to improve the habitants’ life style.
Examples are:
1st Seminar on Bar and Restaurants Service Techniques (07/04/05)
1st Ecological Pallatanga Press Trip, where we could show our natural attractions and the typical habits and meals from the Pallatanga County.
2nd ECOVITA Seminar on Food Handling, 2006 (01/31/06)
1st Ecological Christmas Breakfast, organized to spread the true meaning of Christmas and raise awareness on environmental preservation and care (31/18/06)
Program on Good Practices for Responsible Tourism

Describe the degree of success you have had to date. How do you measure, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the impact on sustainability or enhancement of local culture, environment, heritage, or aesthetics? How has it transformed or contributed to the power of place or demonstrated the sustainability of tourism? How does your approach minimize negative impacts?

In the year 2005 Ecovita was recognized by the Pallatanga Municipality for its ecological contribution to the county.
Ecovita Organic Camping & Farm won a prize in the 68th Skål World Congress held in Antalya, Turkey, on November 5, 2007, in the category of Cities and Villages, ranking first among 44 participants from different countries.
The major points under evaluation were the contribution to the preservation of nature and the cultural heritage, the participation in benefits to the community, educational factors, and commercial feasibility and innovation.

In what ways are local residents actively involved in your work, including participation and community input? How has the community responded to or benefited from your approach?

Satisfaction, Integration and Training Surveys undertaken by the community.
1st Seminar on Bar and Restaurants Service Techniques.
1st Ecological Pallatanga Press Trip, where we could show our natural attractions and the typical habits and meals from the Pallatanga County.
2nd ECOVITA Seminar on Food Handling, 2006
1st Ecological Christmas Breakfast

How does your program promote traveler enthusiasm, satisfaction, and engagement with the locale?

With informative chats with visitors about the regional cultural activities, inviting them to participate in such events, thus benefiting the community.

Describe how your work helps travelers and local residents better understand the value of the area's cultural and natural heritage, and educates them on local environmental issues.

Thanks to our solid waste management program, whose aims are:
- To determine the operative rules for the handling, temporary storage, final disposition, and treatment of solid waste generated in our facilities, so as to prevent accidents, diseases and negative environmental impact.
- To encourage the use of reusable materials, getting rid of waste in a safe and protective manner, preserving nature and satisfying the community’s needs.
Through our Ecovita cultural, flora and fauna program we teach visitors, tourists and the community how to behave to protect our nature.

How is your initiative currently financed? If available, provide information on your finances and organization that could help others. Please list: Annual budget, annual revenue generated, size of part-time, full-time and volunteer staff.

Self-financing:
Total income: $ 48,000
Full-time employees: 2
Part-time employees: 2
Volunteers: 1

Is your initiative financially and organizationally sustainable? If not, what is required to make it so? Is there a potential demand for your innovation?

Self-sustainable financing.
Demand: a multi-target market; schools, enterprises, colleges, groups of friends and families.

What are the main barriers you encounter in managing, implementing, or replicating your innovation? What barriers keep your program from having greater impact?

Access roads, but for the moment they are being re-built. Financial stability and the country’s politics.

What is your plan to expand or further develop your approach? Please indicate where/how you would like to grow or enhance your innovation, or have others do so.

Partnerships with educational institutions and enterprises, which constitute the biggest share in the market. We have a plan to visit educational institutions and enterprises to encourage their directors and employees to participate in our project. We also plan to invite people from the media and give prizes to the best school and university students.

Contact Information
Title (e.g. Mr. Ms. RICARDO SALAZAR
MANAGER
ECOVITA
Mailing Address
ecovita@vivecovita.com