- Community tourism, key to economic reactivation in municipalities of Valle de Cauca.
- 65 productive units including restaurants, farms, tourist complexes, museums, artists, artisans, land and river transporters, fishermen, territory hosts and tour guides, among others, were positively impacted thanks to this project.
The tourist routes project closed in 2022 with great success “LIVE THE VALLEY”, that launched the Comfenalco Valle Delagente Family Compensation Fund and Grupo Energía Bogotá (GEB), in five (5) municipalities not traditionally recognized for their tourism vocation, but that have high potential to develop this sector: Palmira, Pradera, Guacarí , Zarzal and Cartago.
These municipalities, headed by their mayors, accepted the challenge of participating in the design, implementation and promotion of routes based on community tourism and managed to positively impact the economy of 65 productive units including restaurants, farms, tourist complexes, museums, artists, artisans, land and river transporters, fishermen, territory hosts and tour guides, among others.
In total, five (5) outings were made for each municipality with an average group of 20 visitors, for a total of 25 tours. Five attractive and high-value tourist routes for connoisseurs of the subject were designed in concert with the community and municipal administrations, as follows:
- Grassland, Kwet Wala Ancestral Stone.
- Carthage, a sun embroidered with history.
- Guacarí, experience of the Grape and Videles Wetland.
- Zarzal de Antaño mountaineer and interactive art.
- Ancient Palmyra.
Ana Ximena Vallejo, head of National and International Cooperation of Comfenalco Valle Delagente, stated that "the Family Compensation Fund and Grupo Energía Bogotá, complied with laying the foundations for the sustainability of tourist routes in the five municipalities. We developed the strengthening of local suppliers through a training program that addressed key issues such as tourism culture, tourism marketing, customer service, soft skills, among others. We also fostered articulation between local providers, inter-municipal articulation and as a key point of success we achieved articulation with the municipal administrations that contributed work equipment and were prepared to continue the tourist work”.
For his part, Rodrigo Hernández, manager of the 500kV Refuerzo Suroccidental electric power transmission project of Grupo Energía Bogotá, highlighted that “the work carried out between August and December 2022 met the goals set. During those four months, the local tourist service providers received constant income; in total $100'000,000 in payment of services, contributed by the project to cover the expenses of travel, food, tickets, and medical assistance of 521 visitors who participated in the tourist routes and who met the profile required for the promotion of their experience , profiles such as social media influencers, the media, tourism promoters, travel agents, frequent travelers, internship or training tour guides, representatives of key areas of municipal administrations and our Grupo Energía Bogotá team”.
From January 2023, those interested in exploring the Vive el Valle routes, will be able to self-manage directly with the service providers in each of the municipalities, obtaining the contact information at www.comfenalcovalle.com.co, Cooperation option, list of projects, Live the Valley, tourist routes and click on the destination of your choice.
How did people participate?
The registration process to participate in the Vive el Valle routes was carried out through the Comfenalco Valle Delagente website, where 1,324 records of people with profiles of influencers, tourist agents, photographers, travelers, journalists, among others, were received. interested in being invited to visit the tourist destinations, free of charge.
Of the 521 people who visited the tourist routes, the most prominent in their publications were the couple of Colombian travelers, Lina Marcela Ruiz Calvache and Andrés Felipe Álvarez Henao. Palmireños who have traveled the world promoting tourism and in 2022 decided to focus on promoting their Valle del Cauca, starting with Palmira. The content creators known as "We Resign and Travel", through their social networks, positively impacted the promotion of three of the Vive el Valle tourist routes, such as Palmira Ancestral, Pradera Piedra Ancestral Kwet Wala and Cartago, a sun embroidered with stories.
Its publications aimed at the most demanding travelers when choosing a destination, highlight the best of Vive el Valle. They achieved 1,800 interactions on their Instagram post and more than 289,000 people follow them on their social networks. In each of their publications they mentioned the entities that championed this process of economic reactivation for the region such as: Comfenalco Valle Delagente, Grupo Energía Bogotá and Vive el Valle.
Comfenalco Valle Delagente
Family Compensation Fund of Valle del Cauca
Transmission – Grupo Energía de Bogotá.
