Working in the tourism industry has opened our eyes to the overall diversity of times, customs, and traditions that are associated with welcoming the New Year around the world. For many in the United States, New Year’s Eve will be celebrated with friends and family over a bottle or two of bubbly, Chinese food, and some fireworks. In Greece, people will get ready for the New Year by hanging an onion on their doors (as a symbol of rebirth). To the Western Hemisphere and those who follow the Gregorian calendar this day of celebration and reflection is on January 1^st. Many Eastern cultures however, typically celebrate the New Year in late January or early February (because they follow a lunisolar calendar). New Year’s is a unique holiday because it presents a dichotomy of emotion- a sober reflection of the year past alongside an optimistic celebration and hope for the year ahead.

Let us share with you some of the traditions from the places Solimar will be working in the New Year:

Ethiopia

In October of this year Solimar started preparation to run a series of trainings for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and five regional tourism bureaus in Ethiopia. The trainings are focused on building public sector capacity to leverage sustainable tourism potential in the country.

Ethiopians follow a variation of the Alexandrian calendar and celebrate New Year’s, which they call Enkutatash, in mid-September. New Year’s Eve celebrations in Ethiopia include live music, cultural events, religious gatherings, parties and beer drinking. New Year’s Day begins with church services followed by a family meal where small gifts are given to the children.

Nepal

Solimar began working in Nepal earlier this year developing and renovating an online platform that promotes trade and trekking along the Great Himalayan Trail. Through identifying and supporting a new legal entity to take over development, expansion, and maintenance of the website Solimar hopes to spur international visitors to trek in Nepal.

Nepal follows a lunar calendar and therefore celebrates New Year’s Day on the first day of the waxing moon. New Year’s EveDay fall during the Swanti Festival—a five-day festival celebrating the central role of women in the household and wishing family members good fortune. Newars observe New Year’s Day by performing Mha Puja, a ritual to purify and empower the soul. Outdoor celebrations, such as pageants, rallies, and cultural processions, take place throughout the day.

Sri Lanka

Beginning in February and extending into the New Year, Solimar will be working with USAID’s Biz+ program aiming to improve the economic climate, increase employment, and generate higher household incomes in Sri Lanka. Solimar is working with small tourism enterprises in Sri Lanka helping them develop business plans and strategies as well as improving their business capacity through a number of services.

The Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka celebrate New Year, or Aluth Avurudda, on the 13^th of April, which marks the end of the harvest season. Interestingly, the Sinhalese New Year does not begin at midnight the day before, but is determined by astrological calculations. The time between the old year and the new is usually 12 hours and 48 minutes and is referred to as the Nonagathe (auspicious time). Cultural rituals including cleaning the house and lighting an oil lamp, begin once the New Year arrives and are followed by a celebration of fireworks and street parties.

From everyone at Solimar International, Happy New Year!

Solimar was recently contracted to support the development of a 5-year management plan for a protected area on the Caribbean island of Old Providencia, in the Colombian Department of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina. Solimar is tasked with developing innovative ideas to engage stakeholders working within the park to generate a sustainable source of revenue through tourism.

The Project

Solimar is applying our Business Approach to Conservation to develop revenue models and a business plan for the park that actively mitigate threats to conservation in the protected area and generate economic opportunities for local residents.

The Challenges

Because this is a remote region of Colombia, there is a unique set of challenges that must be considered in its development as a tourism destination. The island of Providencia is home to about 5,000 residents and receives fewer than 20,000 visitors per year. As tourism develops in the region, it must be done carefully and in a way that ensure economic opportunity for local residents. As in any destination, the charm of the communities around the park lies on their authenticity, something that should not be disturbed or “packaged” in a way that misrepresents them or threatens their way of life.

The Park

Regional Natural Park (PRN) The Peak was developed to preserve the fragile dry forest ecosystems in the mountains run the length of the island. Threats to the ecosystem include activities related to unsustainable agriculture and unregulated tourism activity.

Solimar’s work with the protected area comes as Colombian national government plans significant investments in tourism infrastructure on the island.

Our Work

Solimar’s Gabriel Seder recently completed a destination assessment on the island. During a five-day site visit, Solimar:
• Hosted workshops and community meetings with stakeholders, including community residents, guide associations, farmer cooperatives, conservation NGOs, and local government officials
• Completed a conservation threat assessment to identify direct and indirect threats to biodiversity conservation
• Conducted a tourism destination assessment to understand existing and potential attractions and supporting infrastructure and services
• Conducted a visitor survey to assess market demand for new tourism products
• Introduced business concepts for generating revenue in support of conservation
• Drafted a business plan to support the sustainable implementation of conservation and revenue-generating activities

In the next phase of the project, Solimar will develop a fundraising strategy that can be used to secure funding for key activities. Solimar will target funders and donors in Colombia and internationally to support the development of ecotourism products on the island.

Solimar’s previous work in Colombia incudes the development of a Geotourism interactive website on the islands of San Andres and Providencia, in partnership with National Geographic and funded by a loan from the InterAmerican Development Bank.

Solimar also worked in the region of Chocó to develop and market community-based tourism enterprises as part of the BIOREDD+ program funded by USAID.

Colombia was recently listed one of Solimar’s top ten destinations to discover in 2015.

Tourism contributes significantly to the inflow of people and to the infrastructure development at cultural heritages. It is both a duty and an act of self-interest for the tourism industry to be invested in the conservation of these heritage sites. This cannot be handled by an external force; rather, the local stakeholders need to embrace the concept of sustainable tourism management using a “destination approach”.

Local destination management organizations (DMO) are usually in the best position to advocate holistic tourism development. They work to facilitate communication between different types of stakeholders, as well as to present commercial and community demands to policy-makers. For cultural heritage sites, without economic investment it can be difficult to maintain conservation of the site from internal and external pressures. For that same reason, destination management cannot effectively be carried out without the involvement of the local community.

Chris Seek, Solimar CEO, explained the destination approach at the “Analysis of the Sustainable Cultural Tourism Situation in the Colonial City (Santo Domingo)” workshop July 8, which was co-hosted by Solimar, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Dominican Ministry of Tourism, and UNESCO. The workshop was the first of three to be carried out under Solimar’s consultancy for the Tourism Development Program – Colonial City, Santo Domingo (the program’s official name in Spanish is “Programa de Fomento al Turismo – Ciudad Colonial, Santo Domingo”).

The ultimate goals of the consultancy are:

1. Enhanced understanding of the operational structure and understanding of the potential of a DMO by local managers and other stakeholders.

2. Active use by local asset managers and guides of the tools for development and implementation of a Sustainable Tourism Strategy.

3. Increased knowledge of local managers on structuring tourism management using a “destination” approach.

4. Integration of all the parties involved in the planning, development and management of sustainable tourism, using a destination approach for the conservation and empowerment of local communities.

5. Implementation of the proposed governance structure for the DMO, achieving interagency agreements and work commitments.

6. Design and implementation of mechanisms for the operation of the proposed governance structure.

7. Development of an Action Plan as a basis for the strategic implementation of the Sustainable Tourism Strategy and Strategy for the Development of a DMO.

These goals will be achieved in part by hosting three workshops in the Colonial City in order to:

 • Conduct a thorough analysis of the current situation based on an analytical framework for sustainable tourism;

• Create a shared, strategic vision, mission, and priorities for a DMO for the Colonial City; and

• Develop a comprehensive strategy for the management of sustainable tourism that unites all Colonial City stakeholders around a common vision.

To achieve the Colonial City’s conservation, economic and social objectives there first needs to be a shared vision. The Colonial City, the place where native, European and African cultures had their first encounter and left their combined marks, has suffered from natural disasters and most importantly, human impact. Land conversion, the development of underground transport, visitation facilities and tourism itself are taking a toll on the old city. Solimar and the Tourism Development Program – Colonial City, Santo Domingo have set out to address these challenges.

Solimar believes that a successful strategy is one that was developed by the people who will be implementing it. Upon completion of the analysis of the current situation and after achieving consensus on the vision for the Colonial City and the DMO, Solimar will work with local stakeholders to draft the Sustainable Tourism Strategy and Strategy for the Development of a DMO. The strategies will emphasize the promotion and protection of cultural assets in the destination management practices, as they are crucial in attracting higher-spending tourist segments and maximizing tourist contribution.

Through appropriate destination management planning, development and implementation Solimar aims to minimize the possible negative impacts of tourism, improve economic and social development, and preserve cultural heritage sites so that they can share their tales for many more years to come.

Following the first training Solimar launched in Ethiopia, Matthew Humke delivered two individual 23-day Integrated Destination Planning and Management courses as part of Solimar’s Short Term Sustainable Tourism Training Program.

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Each course covered seven modules, including Destination Typology, Tourism Assessment Techniques and Tools, Tourism and Resource Conservation, Tourism Product Development, Destination Marketing, Managing the Visitor Experience, and Destination Management Planning. The purpose of the course was to offer Ethiopia tourism professionals a thorough overview of the types of destinations and the different modalities for their management so they can effectively incorporate these concepts into their work.

There were a total of 68 participants in the two courses – 33 in the first course and 35 in the second. Participants included representatives from the Ethiopian government, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Regional Culture and Tourism Bureaus, Ethiopia’s national parks as well as cultural and historical sites. Within both courses, participants showed consistent interest and enthusiasm and were eager to learn the course content.

To ensure our content as relevant and applicable to the professional careers of the participants as possible, each module was structured in three sections. First, the instructor Matthew Humke introduced the course material with an emphasis on how it relates to Ethiopia as well as the professional context of the participants. Second, participants formed the 4-6 person “destination working groups” and picked an actual tourism destination in Ethiopia – ranging from national parks to cultural and historical sites – to which they applied many of the planning and management concepts during their practice and production activities. Finally, participants shared their discussion results with the class. Throughout the course, the destination working groups developed various aspects of an actual destination management plan step by step including tourism supply and demand, existing and potential market segments, and priorities at their destinations in tourism development, management and marketing.

The course also included a series of weekly field trips designed to highlight some aspect of the content being taught during the course that week. For example, during the Tourism and Resource Conservation module, a field trip took place to Awash National Park where participants met with park management and staff to discuss the conservation objectives and challenges that park faces. During the Managing the Visitor Experience module, the participants traveled to Melka Kunture to see how that site interpreted its historical aspects and cultural heritage.

On the final day of the course, destination working groups presented their final project by taking all of their analysis and put it into a condensed destination management plans that identified strategic objectives for their sites as well as 1-5 year action plans.

Participants walked away the course not only with their certificates, but also materials from each of the seven modules, containing PowerPoint presentations, tools like worksheets, templates, publications, reports, videos and other complimentary materials related to the content provided in each module as well as photos and videos taken by the instructor during the course of field trips, participant presentations, etc.

Solimar marketing expert Natasha Martin will be the instructor of our two individual courses on Tourism Marketing and Branding course starting on March 16th and April 17th