The main objective of the project is to implement water efficiency and/or circular economy practices as a sustainability strategy for the tourism sector in Colombia.

The specific objectives of the project are as follows:

• To increase savings in the use of resources among SMEs in the tourism sector through principles, techniques, technologies and/or required digitalisations.
• Increase the implementation and/or introduction of sustainability standards in the tourism sector.
• Increase the structuring of circular economy projects and practices in SMEs in the tourism sector.

The beneficiaries of the project will mainly be SMEs in the HORECA sector linked to tourism: they are hotels, restaurants and cafés located in the cities of Cartagena de Indias, Santa Marta, Riohacha, Bucaramanga and Manizales whose needs are specialised technical support towards the transition to more sustainable, environmentally responsible and circular business models, in terms of their limitations despite all the effort in the development of sustainable practices, still have restrictions in the constant and efficient implementation of the same, due to the lack of full knowledge of these processes from a sustainable approach and the limited access to specialised consultancy packages in sustainability, often expensive. The Ecopymes Turísticas action will provide participating SMEs with a package of training, technical assistance, exchange of experiences, measurements, empowerment among stakeholders, practical cases of waste disposal, in order to finally reduce the competitive gaps in relation to the global commitment to sustainability for the tourism sector, with participating SMEs acquiring more recognition, value and positioning in the sector.

Adriana Argumedo Bossio

Project Coordinator - Cartagena Chamber of Commerce

aargumedo@cccartagena.org.co