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Lake Yojoa Ecotourism Services, Honduras, Central America
Dolores Pesquera, is a member of the Association of Tourist Guides and is a guide in the Ecoarcheological Park Los Naranjos. She is giving a tour to the other members of the Guides´association.
The creation of Lake Yojoa Ecotourism Services is unquestionably suitable for the region in which the business is proposed.
Lake Yojoa, the only natural lake in Honduras, declared in 1971, as a protected area, was declared an important international wetland on June 5, 2005 in the Ramsar Convention for Wetlands. It has great potential for tourism and is surrounded by an array of unique tourist destinations and two national parks.
For its great wealth of ecotourism potential, Lake Yojoa is a tourist destination to be further discovered and explored. At this moment, for its lack of promotion and economic resources, Lake Yojoa is not considered a priority amongst tourist destinations in Honduras. There is a need to create Lake Yojoa Ecotourism Services to promote sustainable ecotourism and to increase the standard of living in the surrounding communities.
In aligning with local, national, and international tour operators, the business will become economically sustainable by promoting and providing packaged tours, including the following tourist activities that already exist in the region: fishing, hiking, caving, camping, archeological visits, horseback riding, cultural home stays, bird watching, sailing, water sports, photography, cultural exchanges; adventure, agro, and educational tourism, and a variety of other activities.
During the first years of operation, the proposed business will be targeting residents of Honduras. Eventually, as more clients are attracted due to excellence in services, growth will be witnessed through the attraction of additional tourists from neighboring Latin American countries. Eventually, further growth may be generated from tourists from the United States and Europe that seek to travel to the region to enjoy and appreciate Lake Yojoa´s unique natural resources. We expect to receive 5,000 customers in year one and 7,000 customers in year two.
The average investment needed for the proposed business in year one will be 200,000 Euros and 100,000 Euros for year two. Members of Lake Yojoa Ecotourism Services will try to provide three percent of the total investment of the project. Ideally, during the third year of operation a profit will be generated. It is expected to employ around fifty people in the first two years.
The Business
The creation of Lake Yojoa Ecotourism Services is unquestionably suitable for the region in which the business is proposed.
Lake Yojoa, the only natural lake in Honduras, declared in 1971, as a protected area, was declared an important international wetland on June 5, 2005 in the Ramsar Convention for Wetlands. It has great potential for tourism and is surrounded by an array of unique tourist destinations and two national parks.
For its great wealth of ecotourism potential, Lake Yojoa is a tourist destination to be further discovered and explored. At this moment, for its lack of promotion and economic resources, Lake Yojoa is not considered a priority amongst tourist destinations in Honduras. There is a need to create Lake Yojoa Ecotourism Services to promote sustainable ecotourism and to increase the standard of living in the surrounding communities.
In aligning with local, national, and international tour operators, the business will become economically sustainable by promoting and providing packaged tours, including the following tourist activities that already exist in the region: fishing, hiking, caving, camping, archeological visits, horseback riding, cultural home stays, bird watching, sailing, water sports, photography, cultural exchanges; adventure, agro, and educational tourism, and a variety of other activities.
During the first years of operation, the proposed business will be targeting residents of Honduras. Eventually, as more clients are attracted due to excellence in services, growth will be witnessed through the attraction of additional tourists from neighboring Latin American countries. Eventually, further growth may be generated from tourists from the United States and Europe that seek to travel to the region to enjoy and appreciate Lake Yojoa´s unique natural resources. We expect to receive 5,000 customers in year one and 7,000 customers in year two.
The average investment needed for the proposed business in year one will be 200,000 Euros and 100,000 Euros for year two. Members of Lake Yojoa Ecotourism Services will try to provide three percent of the total investment of the project. Ideally, during the third year of operation a profit will be generated. It is expected to employ around fifty people in the first two years.
Lake Yojoa Ecotourism Services will market its products by first dispersing information in other key tourist destinations in Honduras. Strategic alliances will be made with the service providers and tourist information centers in these destinations to exponentially disperse information about the proposed business. The proposed business will create its own website to promote it services, and also create links to websites such as www.lagodeyojoa.info, www.honduras.hondurastips.com, www.letsgohonduras.com, and www.destinationhonduras.com. Aside from information online, potential clients from abroad will be reached through information in travel guidebooks and publications, such as Lonely Planet, Destination Honduras, Honduras Tips, Country Honduras, Honduras Moon Handbook, Lake Yojoa Travel Map and Guide, and the Official Honduran Institute of Tourism Map for visitors.
As stated above, the proposed business will align with local, national, and international tourist providers. Additionally, an alliance will be formed with AMUPROLAGO due to its extreme importance in the region for the promotion of ecotourism and the conservation of natural resources. The involved service providers around Lake Yojoa will pay a percentage for commission on the sale of their products and services to the proposed business.
Potential competitors exist in a variety of individual businesses around Lake Yojoa, such as hotels, restaurants, and other tourist providers. However, these tourist providers do not promote an integrated Lake Yojoa experience and thus do not compete directly with the proposed business.
To attain other financing will be difficult, but not impossible. The Association of Tourist Guides could apply for funding with the Honduran Institute of Tourism and the Embassy of Japan.
Development
In the short term, the business will create new jobs and opportunities, improve local living conditions and standards, promote environmental education, and invest in human capital by increasing knowledge and skills.
In the long term the business seeks to achieve integral economic development among the residents of the immediate Lake Yojoa region and among the members involved in the proposed business. Since the proposed business is dedicated to sustainable ecotourism development around Lake Yojoa, ideally it will become sustainable and will help other organizations to preserve the environment and support community development projects.
uilds association of the Yojoa Lake
I am interested in becoming a member of the tourist guide