Floreana Ecotours, Galapagos

Location -  Floreana Island, Galapagos

Floreana Island in the Galapagos received tourists on short day trips, but were not economically benefitting from tourists visiting their island. With such a lack of job and economic opportunities, young people were choosing to leave the island and rarely returned. The residents of Floreana Island developed the first ever community based tourism group in the Galapagos and with investment from our local team have developed a training programme to manage all aspects of tourism on Floreana. They have since coordinated tourism activities such as guiding, trekking, snorkelling, food services as well as training in accounting and reservations. This has opened up lots of jobs and opportunities to improve income for the local residents, as well as empowered people to protect the unique biodiversity which attracts tourists to the island.