TUI Futureshapers Colombia
After more than 60 years of internal armed conflict, Colombia achieved a landmark peace agreement in 2016 between the FARC guerrilla group and the national government. The end of the conflict brought peace across the country and broke the isolation and lack of development opportunities for many of its conflict-ridden regions. Now these regions have a unique opportunity to benefit from tourism development, as a means to secure sustainable livelihoods for its communities, whilst reintegrating over 14,000 ex-guerrilla fighters into civilian life.
TUI Futureshapers Colombia equips community tourism organisations with the experience, tools and resources needed to reintegrate post-conflict communities. The programme focuses on five community organisations in the departments of Guaviare, Meta, Caquetá, Cundinamarca, and Bolívar, where tourism is already an established economic alternative generating resources for these post-conflict areas. The project connects these five destinations with new international markets and serves as a model for other organisations involved in tourism across the remaining post-conflict areas.
TUI Futureshapers Colombia is working with five community organisations spread across the country’s post-conflict areas. They provide authentic tourism experiences and therefore livelihoods to communities in these once isolated regions. Projects include rafting adventures guided and managed by former guerrillas, exploring Afro-Colombian culture in a local fishing village and guided tours of off-the-beaten track destinations such as the Ciudad Bolívar district outside Bogotá.
The programme rolls out a capacity-building programme for 50 people, a group which comprises farmers, peace signatories of the agreement and indigenous individuals. Training spaces called Creation Labs focus on building specialised skills in tourism in areas such as operations, association-building, governance, leadership, and management. Participants also have access to tailored in-person mentorships as well as one online mentorship delivered by experts from across TUI’s business ecosystem. Expert topics covered by the mentors can vary and include areas such as digital marketing, content creation, storytelling, and management techniques.
The project also includes an awareness component and strengthens safety regulations in areas previously affected by conflict, as well as building capacity within the organisations for establishing partnerships at local, national, and international levels. This support includes participating in tourism fairs in the capital city of Bogotá, to showcase the organisations to the broader tourism market.
To expand the learning around the programme at an organisational level, a series of “Business Interaction Summits” are organised to create a business and communication strategy. This is replicated not only within the five organisations taking part in the programme, but also in the wider network of 15 organisations that form the Tourism & Peace Network. As part of this framework, leaders from each organisation receive specialised training and work in collaborative spaces to build collective strategies for the future of the network and their ventures.
To ensure replicable results, the programme is accompanied by a research project that creates a model methodology for tourism and peace interventions and generates knowledge on the relationship between tourism and peace in Colombia.
Project Partner
The V Social Foundation is a non-profit organization that has been supporting the development of local community organisations in tourism destinations for over 20 years. The Foundation’s purpose is to contribute to cultural tolerance and international understanding, improving living conditions in various regions worldwide, and providing solidarity support to local people while respecting their cultural values. The goal they pursue together with the local organizations is to use tourism as a tool for income diversification and to strengthen the territorial and financial autonomy of their communities. The supported projects promote cultural preservation, nature conservation, gender equality, and youth training. V Social succeeds by understanding both, local development needs and the requirements to create meaningful human connections through travel.
