Text : Francisco Enríquez
FENATUCGUNA was created in January 2005, as a response to the need of an organization which could agglutinate the different sustainable community based tourism projects in Guatemala, and at the same time be representative of its members. It is an organization conformed by village representatives, with a board of directors elected by the communities, and with the technical and financial support from institutions such as the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Guatemalan Institute of Tourism (INGUAT), or the Technical Training and Professionalizing Institute (INTECAP).
One of the FENATUCGUA main objectives is to negotiate and be an intermediate and speaker between its members and Governmental and Non Governmental Organizations which are related to the tourism sector. FENATUCGUA also helps the conditions in Guatemala to become optimal for the sustainable tourism development in rural villages, as an alternative way of income generation and poverty alleviation in the Mayan and non Mayan villages, supporting its partners mainly with education, professional training, merchandising and publicity, as well as with access to financial services.
FENATUCGUA is conformed by 28 projects between villages, community companies and organizations, which are the following ones :
Aquil Grande Mayan Village
Mayan Pokomchi’ Cloudy Forest Hotel
Ak’ Tenamit Association
Paso Caballos Mayan Village
ADIQK Association
Plan Grande Quehueche Mayan Village
Mayan K’iche’ Adventure
Rocjá Pomtilá Mayan Village
CASODI Association
Rupalaj Kistalin Association
Candelaria Camposanto Caves
San Juan Comalapa Mayan Town
Carmelita Village
San Lucas Sequilá Mayan Village
Chajinel Committee
San Rafael Chilascó Waterfalls
Chicacnab Mayan Village
San Vicente Pacaya Volcano
El Porvenir II Mayan Village
Santa Anita Community Farm
El Zapote Mayan Village
Santa Isabel Mayan Village
La Unión Mayan Ruins
Sepalau Lagoons
Lajchimel Mayan Village
Takalik Mayan Lodge
Mucbilhá Mayan Village
Corazón del Bosque Eco-tourism Centre
It is essential for the villages and organizations to be running a sustainable community based tourism project to become a member of FENATUCGUA, understanding community tourism as “the kind of tourism which mainly benefits the local community, who provides the visitor with the proper service, but also is fully involved in the administration and management of the tourism place. The benefits generated by the tourism activity must be also shared between an important percentage of the village population, not only between a family or a project owner”. Important factors to be considered are the conservation of nature, the respect to the different cultures and the gender equity, being the three of them essential to become an active member of FENATUCGUA.
The different FENATUCGUA destinations are rich in nature and culture, providing the visitor with an unique experience, which lets them find the Guatemalan ancestral and real Mayan culture, as well as its enormous biodiversity, at the same time that there is a close contact with the authentic local friendly people. All this, together with the worldwide known traditional destinations, like Tikal or Antigua, make Guatemala one of the most fascinating countries in Latin America to be visited.
Contact
Francisco Enríquez.
E-mail : turismo_comunitario@yahoo.es
Internet : www.visitguatemala.com, with links to most of the FENATUCGUA community based project.
For more information about our community partners, you can visit www.redturs.org