Ernesto Hernandez and I walked along a dusty trail that ran alongside the Rio Grande River as it continued to carve out the border between the US and Mexico in Big Bend National Park. As we walked, we heard a single, soaring voice that bounced off the sheer cliff walls of the river canyon and broke the silence that surrounded us: “Ay, ay, ay, ay,
 canta y no llores,
 Porque cantando se alegran, 
Cielito lindo, los corazones,” which literally translated means “My dear, sing and don’t cry because singing warms the heart.”

Across the river, standing on the Mexican shoreline, stood our troubadour. His name was Victor, and he came from the local community of Boquillas del Carmen located just across the river from Big Bend Park. Victor was singing “Cielito Lindo”, a favorite Mexican ballad, to us and other hikers in hopes that we’d put a few dollars underneath a rock on our side of the river. At the end of a long day of serenading, Victor would paddle a small boat over to collect the donations in order to help support his family and others back in Boquillas.

For years, Boquillas was a must-do day trip for anyone visiting Big Bend. To get there, you had to go through Victor. He was the boatman who picked up tourists from the U.S. side of the Rio Grande and poled them across the river to Mexico. There, tourists could rent a donkey for the short trip up to town to enjoy some Tex Mex and cold beers at the local restaurant. Making the pilgrimage to Boquillas was a long-standing tradition for many of the 350,000 people who visit Big Bend every year, especially Texan residents who make up most of that visitation.

But the world changed after the attacks of 9/11. The informal border crossing was seen as a threat to homeland security, and on a spring morning in 2002, a U.S. government official showed up to tell Victor he could no longer bring tourists to Boquillas. The Boquillas border crossing has been closed ever since.

For the last decade, Boquillas has struggled, along with many of the other small Mexican communities along the Rio Grande that used to enjoy freedom of movement between our two countries. In Boquillas, the community of 100 families dwindled down to only 30. Many packed up and sought new opportunities in bigger Mexican towns further south.

Those that stayed behind did anything they could with the resources they had to make ends meet. A failed government project to bring electricity to Boquillas left behind hundreds of spools of copper wire, which local artisans commandeered to begin making small intricate figurines of scorpions and birds. Walking sticks were carved out of the local “sotole” plant, which quickly grows back after being cut.

Since tourists could no longer come to Boquillas, and local residents couldn’t legally sell their wares in the national park, the artisans had to get creative. They would (illegally) cross the river early in the morning or at night and lay out their crafts on large flat rocks at park trailheads or scenic overlooks where tourists would stop their cars and get out. A torn piece of paper would have prices listed (with most items costing less than $10) and a can would be set up with words written on it like “Donations Accepted, School Kids, Boquillas Mexico”. The dollars placed in these cans helped the remaining community members of Boquillas survive, but it has been a struggle.

It’s no secret that news coverage of the US/Mexico border region has been overwhelmingly negative for as long as most can remember. Yet the region surrounding Big Bend National Park is considered the most remote and undeveloped area in the contiguous United States (just look up a the night sky to believe it!). Due in part to this isolation, Big Bend has been spared much of the violence and illegal activities that plague other parts of the border region.

Recognizing the unique situation of this region, U.S. and Mexico representatives announced plans to reopen the Boquillas border crossing. A multi-million dollar, unmanned, state-of-the-art border facility was constructed, and is expected to open in 2013 to allow for the return of visitors to Boquillas. And this is where Solimar comes in. Working alongside the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), and partnering with the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) and the Mexican National Commission on Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), Solimar will work with the community of Boquillas to develop sustainable tourism products and prepare the area for the return of visitors.

Solimar’s work has already included an initial tourism assessment to identify both supply and demand of potential tourism products in the region. We have also developed a business plan for the formation of a community-owned enterprise that will manage tourism operations in Boquillas. Short-term tourism opportunities include interpretive guided tours – from canoe and hiking trips to sand boarding adventures – as well as an artisan market, food services, and local festivals to highlight the regions cultural and culinary traditions. Long-term opportunities include safari-style tent lodging and spa services built around a nearby hot springs, as well as mountain biking and backcountry trekking tours.

Solimar has become a leader in directly linking sustainable tourism development to biodiversity conservation in the areas where we work, an effort guided by the development of our Tourism Conservation Toolkit that documents 16 unique strategies to link tourism, conservation, and communities.

In Boquillas, Solimar will work closely with protected area managers to integrate many of these strategies into Boquillas’ tourism development plans. For example, in order to combat an increase in trash as more people arrive, “best practices” will be developed and taught to local service providers on how to better manage organic and inorganic waste. A “Code of Conduct” will be implemented and messaged through signage to remind visitors of ways in which they can reduce their impact to the environmental and to the local culture.

Poorly managed livestock have wrecked havoc on the surrounding fragile desert and river ecosystems. The Boquillas tourism project will begin to look at ways that cattle can be repurposed in more sustainable ways. Strategies include the local production of leather crafts and merchandise, community BBQ festivals, and even a tourism package where visitors can become a cowboy for a day to help round up cattle.

As a hopeful community awaits the opening of a vital border crossing that will bring the return of visitors and opportunity, Solimar will continue to work with local partners to ensure that tourism in Boquillas develops in a way that celebrates and supports the unique ecosystems and heritage of the region.

“Ay, ay, ay, ay,
canta y no llores, 
Porque cantando se alegran, 
Cielito lindo, los corazones”.

In 2010, Solimar partnered with National Geographic, USAID, the Inter-American Development Bank and other key stakeholders to improve market access for small and medium sized tourism businesses in Bocas del Toro, Panama and Roatán, Honduras. The economies of Bocas del Toro and Roatán rely heavily on tourism and fishing, the growth of which jeopardizes their respective natural beauty and biodiversity.

In response to this impending problem, Solimar and its partners rolled out the Go Blue Central America (GBCA) project with its core product being a National Geographic co-branded website. The interactive website creates a platform for local communities to tell their stories and showcase their unique and sustainable attractions, activities, products and experiences. In doing so, the GBCA program drives increased visitation to the region and attracts visitors most likely to enjoy and care about the cultural and natural experiences of the areas. To be featured through GBCA, a business must meet certain sustainability criteria; this incentivizes businesses to adopt sustainable practices.

GBCA proved to be successful. Solimar documented a $1.3 million increase in sales of GBCA businesses, and established a Geotourism Stewardship Council working closely with the Coral Reef Alliance to direct and sustain the program over the long term. Social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, were also pushed forward.

Solimar’s contract ended in 2013. It is always a challenge for development projects to sustain momentum and support after the end of the contract. A year later, we are happy to report that GBCA continues to flourish, in many ways due to the tireless efforts of Manlio Martinez, a consultant and coordinator for the local Geotourism Council in Roatán. Mr. Martinez has successfully rallied stakeholders in Roatán to develop new attractions & product nominations for the website, and to create and publish valuable content to GBCA’s Facebook page. At the end of Solimar’s contract, the Facebook page had approximately 200 likes; the page now has 556 likes. And while Facebook likes are not the end goal of our efforts, they are an important intermediary step in building awareness around the two regions’ sustainable tourism products and initiatives.

We had the pleasure to chat with Mr. Martinez the other day and hear his story. Prior to working with GBCA, Mr. Martinez was writing his own travel and tourism blog in Honduras. He was interested in writing a piece on the conservation efforts of a local dive site—Cordelia Banks—which put him in contact with the Coral Reef Alliance. Members of the Coral Reef Alliance quickly realized that Mr. Martinez would be a perfect fit for the GBCA. Mr. Martinez is a renaissance man of sorts—he’s a travel blogger, photographer, loves to make videos, and is dabbling in graphic design.

Mr. Martinez revealed that his efforts generating content for the GBCA blog and Facebook have proven worthwhile. Facebook, Mr. Martinez explained, is the most used social media channel in Honduras and therefore receives the majority of his focus and efforts. GBCA’s work is gaining exposure and he personally notices the word being spread; “Go Blue is being revived”, Mr. Martinez said. At the end of the day, Mr. Martinez is nothing short of an inspiration. A man truly dedicated to his work—”This is not a job for me”, he explains, “I am doing what I love”.

Solimar & Geotourism 

Alabama as well as Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi partnered with National Geographic and Solimar to promote Geotourism development. This partnership contributed to the region’s competitiveness as a tourism destination by facilitating collaboration between local business owners, governments, interest groups and residents, helping market the region’s sustainable tourism assets.
Solimar has managed activities such as: the establishment of the Stewardship Council and the development of marketing tools and strategies that contribute to the ongoing promotion of the unique region. The Geotourism MapGuide presents the U.S. Gulf Coast States region to the world through an online interactive map, mobile application and print map.

The Geotourism MapGuide focuses on authentic local attractions and service providers, and secures increased market visibility for smaller local businesses and attractions, which adds to the socio-economic benefits generated by tourism in the region.

About Geotourism

Geotourism is defined as “tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place – its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents.”
Geotourism involves regional communities by providing the visitor with an authentic, enriching experience and connects tourists with local culture, traditions, offering them in-depth opportunities to enjoy the area’s unique natural beauty and biodiversity.

Geotourism also benefits the environment by encouraging a destination stewardship that keeps growth to sustainable levels and limits negative impacts such as overcrowding and resource pollution and benefits residents by promoting local services and employment.

 The Tuskegee Human & Civil Rights Multicultural Center

The Tuskegee Center is a commendable example of what we are trying to promote with the Geotourism program. The National Geographic Society, in collaboration with the Alabama Tourism Department, unveiled a new four-state Geotourism project. As a result, some 341 Alabama listings are featured on the U.S. Gulf Coast States Geotourism interactive website.
The tourism project started more than a year ago with a call for organizations and citizens to nominate local points of interest. More than 100 Alabamians submitted nominations that included sites and attractions unique to their area such as local restaurants, wildlife and scenic trails, bed and breakfasts, historic attractions, fishing destinations, museums and art galleries. In Tuskegee, the sites featured include the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, Tuskegee University and the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center.
The Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center preserves and presents the stories about the history of Native, European and African Americans in Tuskegee.

The Center was established in 1997, originally to serve as a permanent memorial to the victims and survivors of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. The center showcases the historic past of Tuskegee in Macon County. The center represents one historic place, three historic cultures and the many tragedies and triumphs of the American South.

22 Geotourism MapGuide projects have been completed or are underway in 14 U.S. states and 12 countries. More than 3 million MapGuides have been printed and distributed in hard copy, and 13 interactive websites have been created to promote sustainable travel to some of the world’s most important tourism destinations.
Because of National Geographic and Solimar International’s commitment to community-based tourism development, the Geotourism approach has the potential to succeed where many other tourism strategies have not.

This summer, Jember Limited’s General Manager Guy Levene and the Ethiopia Wildlife Conservation Authority’s (EWCA) Director General Dr. Kifle Argaw signed a concession agreement for the construction of an eco-lodge in the Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP).  This momentous occasion – only the third concession agreement ever signed by EWCA -represented the culmination of several years of work for Solimar International within the USAID-funded Ethiopian Sustainable Tourism Alliance (ESTA) project.

The process began in mid-2009, when Solimar began conducting extensive market research and visits to numerous Ethiopian destinations to determine which site was most promising for eco-lodge investment. The clear winner was the 850-square mile BMNP, which contains stunning Afro-Alpine landscapes and numerous endemic mammal and bird species. Despite its great potential, tourism numbers to the park had been low due to difficult access and a lack of quality accommodations. Although a paved road from Addis Ababa was under construction (it has recently been completed), it was clear that efforts to develop tourism that could incorporate local communities would have limited impact until the destination had an anchor property.

Once the destination was chosen, Solimar’s goal was then to attract an investor who shared our values in terms of environmental conservation and community participation. To be able to make a strong case to potential investors, we undertook a feasibility analysis and created both a detailed business plan and investment prospectus. We disseminated this information to select investors and presented at various tourism and business conferences in the U.S. and Ethiopia.

After pursuing several strong leads, we ultimately decided to endorse the UK-based private investment group led by Guy Levene because of its strong commitment to building a high-quality lodge that will have minimal impact on the environment and bring significant benefits to neighboring communities. The endorsement was followed by support that included facilitation of an Environmental Impact Assessment and assistance through the concession negotiation process.

The groundbreaking for Bale Mountain Lodge took place in November. The eco-lodge, to be built in a stunning location within the Harena Forest, will have a total of 15 units including several tree-houses. Among several innovative approaches that Jember will take to reduce its footprint will be a hybrid micro-hydro and solar energy system. Jember’s initial investment for the lodge will be $1.2 million. The lodge is slated to soft open this spring, and be fully functional by October 2013.