Supporting the marketing and business development prospects of NGO Friends of Wallacea’s tour in Warapoka, Guyana
- Client: Friends of Wallacea
- Partners: Guyana Tourism Authority
- Project Duration: November 2021 - April 2022
Overview
Friends of Wallacea partners with rural and indigenous communities throughout the world to develop wildlife tourism that empowers and incentivizes the conservation of critical biodiversity hotspots. In close collaboration with local communities, Friends of Wallacea develops unique tour itineraries that showcase unique wildlife and human interactions with nature in off-the-beaten-path destinations. One of these identified places is the village of Warapoka, a rural town along the Barimani River home to the Warapoka indigineous group. A unique package tour is being developed for environmentally passionate travelers to travel to this remote indigenous community to engage with the local community, participate in biodiversity research, and visit a place unlike any other. The intended eventual outcome is the Warapoka tour is developed to be entirely self-sufficient, so the Warapoka community can be the entire beneficiaries of this sustainable tourism income.
As an extremely rural place in an already mostly globally-unknown country, bringing this tour to an international market presents a challenge. Friends of Wallacea identified Solimar’s vast sustainable tourism expertise in emerging destinations as an ideal partnership to reach interested prospective participants and fill tour spaces. Solimar is working to organize the digital launch of the tour, bringing it to market with avid adventure lovers and environmentalists eager to participate in meaningful tourism.
Major Activities
- Implementation of strategic campaign to generate buzz around the Warapoka tour and increase Friends of Wallacea’s international visibility
- Identify the target market and develop a digital content strategy and promotional materials geared towards target markets
- Improve Friends of Wallacea’s SEO rankings for their activities and tours
- Engage the SAVE market to increase brand awareness and volume of interested participants
- Cumulate both paid and earned media regarding Friends of Wallacea and the Warapoka tour
