Grant Proposal

Title: Community Wide Tourism, Tour El Burrito (CRUSA)

Country: Costa Rica
Project Start Date: 2/22/2018 Project End Date: 5/10/2018
Amount Requested: $4,218.00 Community Contribution: $2,093.06

Project Narrative

Summary:
Settled in the northern part of Costa Rica near the popular tourist destination La Fortuna, San Francisco de Peñas Blancas, commonly known
as “El Burrito”, is a small farming community that relies heavily on agriculture, selling yuca, yampi and other root vegetables. Over the past
few years, agriculture prices have continued to drop and become unstable, which has left residents without employment and has forced them
to look for new employment opportunities. In the last five years community members of El Burrito have been dabbling in tourism initiatives to
combat this problem and create a stronger economic future for the residents in this remote area.

This project will expand on the community’s tourism initiative and will allow entrepreneurs in the community the opportunity to develop their
personal and professional skills through hands-on, interactive, and detailed trainings. Additionally, this project will support the construction of
a small Visitor Center on one of the farms, which will allow the group to increase the amount and length of tours they are currently giving and
further their pursuit to build successful tourism businesses. This project will bring new economic opportunities to the residents of El Burrito
and reduce the community's dependency on unstable agriculture prices.

Background:
San Francisco de Peñas Blancas, commonly known as “El Burrito” is part of the Alajuela province. The community is located ten kilometers
from the second larger tourist destination in Costa Rica, known as La Fortuna. The community has a strong agricultural background. For years
the residents’ main source of income was farming. However, due to unstable prices over the last 10 years, people were forced to look for new
income sources. Community members started diversifying their farms and developed tourism projects to bring new economic opportunities to
the community.

Currently, there are three separate farms that have tourism projects in the community. Together Finca de Rula and Finca Loma Verde offer a
waterfall trail hike. Finca Los Araya has a chocolate and plantain plantation where they offer farm and chocolate tours. The elementary school
plays a large role in bringing tourists to the community. The school has sustainable farms, including tilapia ponds, a large greenhouse, and a
barn with various animals. The school has been receiving tourists for over 10 years, and in high season receives about 150 visits from tourists
per month. The tourists that arrive to the school are groups of retired United States citizens.

While the individuals have worked on tourism projects for years, their lack of business knowledge and the community’s lack of development
limited their businesses to grow. Despite these challenges, over the last five months the community has made major changes to develop the
area to receive tourists. In September of 2017, 10 different leaders from the community came together to form a Road Committee. The
committee is attached to the local government and is legally recognized. The individuals that make up the committee are:
Manrique Padilla (President) - Owner of Supermarket/Construction Worker
Olivier Rojas and Liliana Miranda (Treasurer) -Owners of the grocery store
Yamileth Rojas (Secretary), Auxiladora Araya, Fanny Rojas - Bakers
Jose Joaquin Murillo and Jose Mario Araya (Owners of Finca Loma Verde)
Jose Antonio Ramos Garita (Owner of Finca de Rula)
Irene Gonzalez (Owner of Finca Los Araya)

In two short months the group raised $3,500 and laid concrete on the main dirt road that runs through the community. After the completion
of their first project, the Road Committee is highly motivated to continue developing the community.

The local government (ADI) and the local PCV have worked together on past projects. In May of 2017 they built a recycling collection center
and facilitated recycling trainings to the community. The local PCV has worked individually with the three farm owners. After completing a
SWOT analysis, they identified a huge opportunity. The community needs to better market itself to attract the vast number of tourists passing
by when traveling to La Fortuna.

Community Involvement:
At a road committee meeting, the group was planning future projects when the idea to build a Visitor Center, equipped with public bathrooms
and a picnic structure formed. Jose Antonio (Owner of Finca de Rula) presented the idea to combat two problems in the community. The first
problem is there are no bathrooms where the tours are given. This makes it difficult to offer professional tours. Secondly, the only tourists that
arrive to the community are brought by La Fortuna tour operators. This is not economically prosperous for the community, as tour operators
only give a small portion of the profits from the tour to the community. For example, the tour operators may charge 75$ for a tour in the
community, but only give 5 dollars to the farm owners.
The Tour office will be built on land owned by Finca Loma Verde. Finca de Rula will donate a portion of the wood needed to build the
structure. Jose Antonio Ramos Garita (Owner of Finca de Rula) will design the benches and chairs of the picnic area and will help a wood
constructor from the community with the furniture construction.

The local government will be providing the community kitchen at no cost for the group to use for the six trainings, which usually has a rental
cost of 50 dollars. Liliana Miranda and Olivier Rojas (owners of super market) will provide the coffee and snacks for the five trainings.
Auxiliadora Araya Rojas will set up for weekly trainings. She will collect and return the keys, make coffee and snacks, and clean the kitchen
after the trainings.

Furthermore, a newly formed partnership has been created with the elementary school and the group. The principal of the school has
connected the group with the tourist agency Outdoor Adventure Travel that currently brings tourists to the school. The group is in
communication with Outdoor Adventure Travel to create packaged tours in the community.

Outcome:
A new 700 square foot Visitor Center will be constructed that will have the capacity to host daily tour groups of 25. With the new visitor
center, community entrepreneurs will expand current operations of 15 tourists per month to 45 visits per month. Furthermore, through
trainings provided by INA resources and Peace Corps Volunteers, community members will gain skills in customer service, business planning,
and food management to both improve the quality of their current tours and help them expand their current operations. After receiving
training on online marketing, community members will increase their visibility to their target audience, through online channels such as
Facebook, TripAdvisor and Yelp, eventually bringing more tourists to the community.

Implementation:
In March, Jose Mario Araya, Jose Antonio Ramos Garita and two local construction workers will begin constructing the Visitor Center. They will
finish at the end of March 2018. The Visitor Center will be built on private land that is owned by Finca Loma Verde. The two owners of Finca
Loma Verde are members of the Road Committee. The Road Committee, the local government and the Finca Loma Verde owners have signed
a contract that states that the Visitor Center on Finca Loma Verde’s land will be available for community members to use for tourism projects
for the next 10 years. The Center will be maintained like the other buildings owned by the local government. Tourism businesses in the
community will need to ask permission for the key from the secretary, Yamileth Rojas, and will be charged a fee (50 cents per tourist) to use
the Visitor Center. Liliana Miranda will collect the money and use it to pay for the overhead.

The individual business that offers the tour will keep the money and will pay a fee to use the structure. The three bakers will sell their bakery
items to the individuals offering tours and will split the profits among themselves.

If the local government disbands, Finca Loma Verde will be in charge of the maintenance the Visitor Center. They will continue operations as
the group had before and will charge other businesses a fee to cover overhead costs.

The structure will be 700 square feet and will include two bathrooms, two changing rooms and one small picnic area. Each bathroom will
include one toilet and one shower for tourists to bathe after their tours. The water will come from the community aqueduct and the local
government will pay the monthly expenses. In the changing room there will be one long wooden bench and one mirror. Inside the picnic area,
there will be six different tables, with four wooden stumps for chairs. The furniture will be screwed into the floor to protect from burglary. The
area will have no electricity and will not be a full functioning restaurant. The area will serve as a place for tourists to drink coffee and have a
snack after the tour. The area will be open, without walls to allow tourists to enjoy the breathtaking views of Arenal Volcano and the lookout
points of the Northern Region of Costa Rica. The full-time employees that live on the Finca Loma Verde property will monitor the structure to
make sure that there is no vandalization.

In addition to the Tour Office, 6 metal signs will be placed along Route 702. The signs will be a form of advertisement to passing vehicles on
the way to La Fortuna. The first sign will be placed 20 Kilometers from El Burrito in the town El Tigre, where two main highways meet. Four
additional signs will be placed between El Tigre and La Fortuna advertising the kilometers to reach El Burrito. The last sign will be placed in
front of the entrance to El Burrito. The signs will say “Tour El Burrito” and include the tours offered. Manrique Padilla will weld the signs.
Yamileth Rojas will request permission to post the signs.

The tourism group Tour El Burrito will receive five separate trainings provided by PCVs and INA resources. The trainings will be given in the
community kitchen on Saturdays from 8-10:30am for five weeks starting February 24th and ending on March 24th. Trainings will be provided
on Business Planning, Online Marketing, Managing Online Platforms, and Hospitality/Food Management and Customer Service. PCV Jasmine
Segal will give the first training on Business planning. The next two trainings Online Marketing and Managing Online Platforms will be given by
PCV Kailey McCarthy. The last two trainings on Hospitality/Food Management and Customer Service will be given with resources from INA.

Capacity Building:
Through the 5 trainings given by Peace Corps Volunteers and local tourism operatives, El Burrito entrepreneurs will increase their online
presence and will develop the necessary skills in customer service and business planning to expand their current tour operations.

Kailey McCarthy will give trainings on how to post businesses on online platforms such as TripAdvisor and Yelp. The trainings will also include
content on how to manage and create content for social media pages. Once the trainings are completed Kailey will work with the individual
business owners to make sure pages are active and encourage tourists to leave reviews after they have completed their tour. Jasmine Segal
will give a training on project design and business planning. Many of the individuals just started their businesses and will benefit from three
month business plans that are created during the training to help them plan and execute the goals they have for their business.

Kailey McCarthy will conduct Pre and Post interviews with each individual in the group before and after the trainings to measure their
knowledge in customer service, track their online presence and discuss how they are executing their goals from their 3 month business plan.
Additionally, Kailey McCarthy along with a group of community members will participate in a tour with each individual business to provide
feedback. Furthermore, the growth and development from this project will bring economic growth to the community. The farm owners and
bakers will need to hire more employers to cater to the increased amount of tourists. Finally, the overall development of rural tourism in the
area will motivate other community members to start their own businesses and cater to the new clientele arriving to the community.

Sustainability:
The Visitor Center will connect to the Cerro Alegre aqueduct. The estimated cost per month in water usage is 15$. The group plans to pay this
monthly expense by charging to use the structure. Each business that uses the structure will pay the committee 50cents per tourist that enters
the structure. Excess funds that are brought in by the groups will be saved and used to fund the group’s plan to put in electricity and add a
full functioning restaurant.

Each individual that uses the structure will be in charge of cleaning and bringing down the trash and recycling to the main garbage bins in the
community. The secretary of the ASADA will monitor after each visit to make sure that garbage is collected and the structure is left clean. If
the structure is left dirty a fine will be given to the individual that rented the structure.

The group has paid $6,000 to Coopelesca to bring electricity up to the farm land. By October 2018, the farms will have electricity and will be
able to expand the current tour office and picnic area into a full functioning restaurant.
Currently the group is communicating with ICT (Instituto Costarricense de Turismo) and once the Tour Office has been built and the 5 initial
trainings are completed, the group will work with ICT to give further trainings.
The three separate farms work with the forest guards of the Bosque Eterno de Los Ninos to make sure their business practices are in line with
the sustainability of the forest area. In the past the forest guards have given trees to the farms to attract more wildlife to the area. The farms
and the forest guards will continue to work together to reforest the area.

Furthermore, the increase in tourist visitors will not only increase the economic opportunities in the area, but will allow the original El Burrito
residents to keep their properties and family businesses. When farming prices started to drop many residents sold their properties to pay off
debts from the unexpected agriculture prices. Adolescents left the community in search of better jobs in San Jose or other larger cities. With
the project, farm owners make their businesses profitable and will leave their properties to their children, keeping the farms within the family.

Budget Summary

Category Grant Amount Community Contribution Community Contribution In- Third-Party Contribution Third-Party Contribution In-
Cash Kind Cash Kind

Equipment $0.00 $0.00 $158.63 $0.00 $0.00

Labor $0.00 $0.00 $1471.75 $0.00 $0.00

Land/Venue Rental $0.00 $0.00 $220.32 $0.00 $0.00

Materials Transport $132.19 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Materials/Supplies $4080.78 $0.00 $149.82 $0.00 $0.00

Other $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Travel/Per $5.02 $0.00 $92.54 $0.00 $0.00

Diem/Food/Lodging

Total $4,218.00 $0.00 $2,093.06 $0.00 $0.00

Goals & Objectives

Goal Objective Indicator(s) Who When Results Comments

1.Tour El Burrito 1.1 By early March 2018 10
ecotourism entrepreneurs community entrepreneurs will
will become equipped with learn and practice 4 strategies
new business skills to for proper customer service,
develop their individual (1. Create customer service
businesses. vision 2. Understand clientele
3. Create emotional
connection with customers 4.
Capture customer feedback),
given on part of a Customer
Service Training by PCV.
# of group members who El Burrito ecotourism March 2018
demonstrate the four entreprenuers
strategies learned for proper
customer service (measured
through pre and post
interviews completed with
PCV Kailey McCarthy)

1.Tour El Burrito 1.2. By March 2018, 10 # group members who El Burrito ecotourism March 2018
ecotourism entrepreneurs community entrepreneurs will create a personal action plan entreprenuers
will become equipped with create a 3-month personal
new business skills to action plan to develop their
develop their individual customer service skills, as
businesses. part of a training on Business
planning given by Jasmine
Segal.

1.Tour El Burrito 1.3 By early March 2018 10 # of pages with Trip Advisor El Burrito ecotourism March 2018
ecotourism entrepreneurs community entrepreneurs will and Yelp created % social entreprenuers
will become equipped with increase their individual online media pages created that are
new business skills to brand presence by creating kept active (1 post per week)
develop their individual and managing at least one after initial training
businesses. social media page, one
TripAdvisor page, and posting
tours rural tourism websites,
as part of a training on Online
Marketing provided by Kailey
McCarthy.

2. El Burrito ecotourism 2.1 By late March 2018, the El # of tours given using Visitor El Burrito ecotourism March 2018-May
entrepreneurs will develop Burrito road committee will Center per month entreprenuers 2018
community resources to construct a Tourist Visitor
expand current tourism Center, equipped with
initiatives. bathrooms and a picnic area,
to expand their current tour
operations.

2. El Burrito ecotourism 2.2 By By late March 2018, El % increase in tourists El Burrito ecotourism March 2018-May
entrepreneurs will develop Burrito will create and place 6 arriving to community per entreprenuers 2018
community resources to signs on route 702 to month because of (Increase
expand current tourism advertise community. will be measured with a
initiatives. survey given to tourists of
how they heard about Tour
El Burrito)
Timeline

Person Responsible Activity Implementation Time

PCV, Auxiliadora Rojas Flyers created and posted to advertise Ecotourism trainings

Liliana Miranda, Jose Mario Araya Rojas, PCV Buy Materials for Signs and Structure Construction

Peace Corps Volunteer, El Burrito ecotourism Group Meeting to Design Signs

entrepreneurs, PCV

Local Constructor Level Ground to Build Structure

Jose Antonio Ramos Garita, Joaquin Morillo Chop and Cut Wood

Peace Corps Volunteer Jasmine Segal, El First Training- Business Planning

Burrito ecotourism entrepreneurs

Peace Corps Volunteer, El Burrito ecotourism Second Training- Online Marketing

entrepreneurs

Peace Corps Volunteer, El Burrito ecotourism Third Training- Managing Social Media/ Online Marketing Platforms
entrepreneurs

Peace Corps Volunteer, El Burrito ecotourism Fourth Training- Customer Service for Tourism,Peace Corps Volunteer, El
entrepreneurs Burrito ecotourism entrepreneurs

Peace Corps Volunteer, El Burrito ecotourism Fifth Training- Food/ Hospitality Management
entrepreneurs

Construction Workers, Jose Mario Araya Visitor Center Structure Construction

Rojas, Jose Antonio Ramos Garita

Yamileth Rojas Request Permission to Post Signs

Manrique Padilla, Peace Corps Volunteer Six Signs Welded and Painted

Jose Mario Araya Rojas, Joaquin Morillo Posting Signs on Road

Local Carpenter, Jose Antonio Ramos Garita Bench and Chair Stump Construction