Project description :
RESPONSible Travel Peru is a Peruvian sustainable travel agency offering tailor-made responsible itineraries. “RESPONS” refers to both the “RESPONSible” approach of the company, as well as the fact of giving a “response” to sustainable and responsible tourism issues. The main objective of RESPONS is to offer, develop, stimulate and broaden sustainable tourism in Peru. In fact, faced with the growing
demand for sustainable tourism products, RESPONS hopes to strengthen the existing offer, for example supporting local communities, and at the same time to develop new and innovative products.
One of the main priorities of RESPONS is to work hand in hand with local communities, pursuing a dual objective. First, allow travelers to discover a more authentic Peru, by learning more about the local culture and by interacting with the population. Second, support these communities, especially in promoting and marketing their products. In general, these families engage in tourism in order to
supplement their income. RESPONS thus develops its relationships with the communities and revolutionizes the approach of community-based tourism. This must be profitable and allow communities to receive a sustainable income. The families, for their part, must be involved and invest in this way. Therefore local people must be involved in the long-term, which, in general, is far from being achieved and obvious, this is why RESPONS provides them full support.
Activities offered :
RESPONS offers many activities of rural community tourism, but can also satisfy all kinds of other travel wishes, offering a wide variety of experiences, always focusing on sustainability and responsibility.
RESPONS offers experiences throughout Peru, in the mountains, in the jungle and at the coast.
RESPONS obviously offers the “must-sees” of Peru, such as the Machu Picchu and the Titicaca Lake.
But RESPONS also targets adventure tourism : from hiking in the Sacred Valley to trekking several days in the Andes, as well as horseback riding and biking. Nature tourism is also part of its products (many programs in the Amazonian jungle, observation of wildlife, etc.), as well as gastronomy (cooking classes, culinary trips, etc.) and spiritual tourism (yoga retreats), among others.
The experiences of community-based tourism are one of the main strengths of RESPONS : discovery of local cultures, weaving activities, interaction with the communities of Vicos, Chifrón, Coporaque, etc.
The very popular Coffee Route, allowing to discover the coffee culture while going to Machu Picchu, is one of the flagship products of rural community tourism offered by RESPONS.
Project history and evolution :
It all begins in 2002 in Huaraz. Guido van Es, the founding director of RESPONS, does his internship in the Peruvian NGO “The Mountain Institute”. He works there in order to set up a project of communitybased tourism with the communities of Humacchuco and Vicos, and it is a revelation : he likes feeling useful and becomes passionate about this project. Once he finished his thesis, he comes back to
continue working with the communities, either with the Mountain Institute, or as a volunteer. Before leaving Peru in 2006, a community-based tourism agency is created, entirely locally-owned.
In 2009, Guido comes back to Huaraz and notes that the communitarian agency is closed : the villagers, lacking of commercial spirit, have dropped the project. However, Pablo Tadeo, villager of the community of Vicos, is really convinced of the merits of community-based tourism and perseveres.
This is how Guido and Pablo decide to create the agency RESPONS Sustainable Tourism Center in February 2009. However, to begin with selling responsible travels, Guido, realistic, decides to start by investing in the “must-sees” of the country, mainly located in the south. So he starts looking for a partner in the south
and meets Alejandro, which is, according to him, a turning point for RESPONS. Both decide to go into partnership and to offer company shares to Pablo, still active in Huaraz. The agency RESPONSible Travel Peru is born !
The personalities complete each other perfectly and allow RESPONS to grow. Alejandro, creative and always full of ideas, thinks of a range of original ideas. Pablo, the passionate local, is the satellite of RESPONS within the communities. Guido, rigorous and organized, is responsible for structuring all of this (he is nicknamed “Mr. Van Excel” !).
RESPONS has three offices : one in Cusco, one in Lima and another one in Huaraz. That of Cusco achieves great success, which allows them to increase their visibility and reputation. In its early stages, RESPONS was working with eight communities from the region of Ancash. Since then, RESPONS grew strongly and now cooperates with about 70 communities throughout the country.
Its growth is mainly due to the philosophy and the values it defends, its tailor-made offer and its constant innovation.
Cultural and environmental information :
The most important aspect concerning sustainability is the following lesson to be learned : many projects of sustainable tourism don’t sell. And if they are not sold, if there are no tourists who pay to travel within these communities, all the other objectives of environmental, social and cultural sustainability will never be achieved : the most important is that a project of community-based tourism
becomes a touristic product desired by an existing market. This is the most important task of RESPONS : working with the communities to make sure they sell. This involves working in service, marketing, tourist experience and also in promotion, both for the travelers and for the tourism companies. This requires a constant evaluation of the services of the communities and always trying to improve them, in order to be competitive, inside and outside the country. Sometimes, this involves stop working with a community which doesn’t improve its services or its organization while necessary. However, fortunately the large majority of the communities is very satisfied with the cooperation and even
claims that RESPONS is their most important source of income among all their contacts. This is sustainability : creating sustainable relationships with the communities, based on mutual trust, passion for well-done tourism and commercial success. It is only in this way that sustainable tourism can be
ensured.
Moreover, the different community-based activities offered by RESPONS are unique and authentic cultural experiences. They allow you to fully immerse yourself in the local culture, to discover its traditions, to interact, while enjoying beautiful landscapes.
Also, each RESPONS office has a small souvenir shop, highlighting a clear philosophy of cultural conservation. Finally, of course, RESPONS does its best to be environmentally friendly as much as possible and encourages the communities to do likewise, in order to generate the minimal level of impacts. RESPONS is proud that its activities are mainly governed by sustainability and responsibility criteria.
Contact :
For general enquiries : please choose the language you prefer to be responded in :
english@responsibletravelperu.com for English
espanol@responsibletravelperu.com para español
francais@responsibletravelperu.com pour français
deutsch@responsibletravelperu.com für Deutsch
nederlands@responsibletravelperu.com voor Nederlands
For more specific enquiries : you can contact our offices at the destination directly :
Huaraz office :
Jr. Eulogio del Rio 1364
La Soledad (just below the Colegio La Soledad)
Huaraz – Ancash
Phone : +51 (43) 427949
huaraz@responsibletravelperu.com
Cuzco office :
RESPONSible Travel Peru, Chihuampata N°564 (enter the portal that says SELEDONIA´S MESA
RESTAURANTE and find us to your left)
San Blas – Cusco
Phone : +51 (84) 233 903
Cell : +51 993 492 506
cusco@responsibletravelperu.com
Lima office :
Calle Canarias Mz J-6 Lt 18 Los Cedros de Villa - Chorrillos.
Cellphone : +51 995057612 (If you would like to meet someone in Lima please call : our office cannot
be visited)
lima@responsibletravelperu.com
The opening hours of the RESPONS offices are :
High season (APR-SEP) : Monday to Saturday, 09:00-19:00 (9am - 7pm)
Low season (OCT-MAR) : Monday to Saturday, 09:00-17:00 (9am - 5pm)