UAKARI - Instituto de Desenvolvimento SustentÃ¡vel MamirauÃ¡

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UAKARI, v. 8, n. 2 , p. 95 - 114, 2012. Special Issue: Sustainable Tourism.INTRODUCTIONIn recent decades, community-based tourism (CBT)has been defended as one of the ways to developtourist activities in a responsible manner, reconcilingthe conservation of natural resources with the socioeconomicdevelopment of the destinations. Theterm is used widely in literature ,1, 2 and generallycovers initiatives that promote an alternative modelto conventional tourism, where the central concernwith involving the communities is the mainstay ofthe activity itself.Starting in the ’90s, innumerable projects of thisnature emerged which, in the majority of cases,were supported by the not-for-profit sector andrun by donations from cooperation agencies.However, throughout this period, many studiesidentified problems that were apparently commonto the majority of these initiatives, including:lack of monitoring and lack of quantification ofreal benefits for the communities (GOODWIN;SANTILI, 2009); lack of the most appropriate focusbased on demand and insertion into the localtourism production chain (Epler Wood 1998); lackof a business plan and a clear view of potentialthreats for this kind of activity (CBI, 2009).Therefore, it is not surprising that Mitchell andMuckosy (2008) have identified an averageoccupancy rate of only 5% for communityestablishments. Mielke (2011), upon evaluatingthe activities of CBT in Brazil 3 , also foundproblems with market access and identified a lackof monitoring systems in these enterprises, makingthe results difficult to control and evaluate. In theMamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve inthe Brazilian Amazon, the Uakari Floating Lodgeis one of the pioneering projects of this genre inBrazil. The enterprise has been in full 4 operationsince 2002 and utilizes a model of sharedmanagement between the Mamirauá Institutefor Sustainable Development (MISD) and thecommunities in the Mamirauá Reserve.In order to support the decision to invest in theUakari Floating Lodge, a business plan wasdeveloped, as well as a strategy for introducingthe enterprise into the market. Moreover,indicators were pre-established to monitor thesocio-economic, environmental, and marketperformance of the initiative over the years.However, the fact that the enterprise took theseimportant pre-steps does not mean that the entirebusiness would not face mishaps. Initiatives likethe Uakari Floating Lodge – located in remoteareas and with a differentiated managementmodel - are sensitive to risk factors, both external 5and internal. Among the most significant externalfactors that the enterprise lived through were theinterruption in flight access to the municipalityand exchange rate fluctuations. The problemof access – which occurred during a time ofsignificant growth for the enterprise – was caused1A form of tourism that local communities have substantialinvolvement in and control over. Ecotourism’s development andmanagement, and a major proportion of the benefits remain withinthe community (DENMAN, 2001).2Tourism initiatives that are owned by one or more communities, orrun as a joint venture with the private sector with equitable communityparticipation, as a means of using natural resources in a sustainablemanner to improve their standard of living in an economic and viableway (Department of Tourism Botswana)3Those who received support from the Ministério do Turismo(Tourism Ministry) through the support bid for CBT.4From 1999 to 2001, the enterprise was functioning as a ‘softopening’, responding to spontaneous demand.5External factors usually affect demand, and as such, the enterprisedoes not have the capacity to intervene.97
OZORIO, R. Z.; JANÉR, A. Community-Based Ecotourism in the Mamirauá Reserve.by the closure of the Tefé 6 municipal airport,resulting in a significant decrease in demand andthus compromising the enterprise’s cash flow.The exchange rate, with its large fluctuations, wasalso a significant risk factor since it resulted in anovervaluation of the Brazilian Real – turning Brazilinto an expensive international long distancedestination – and negatively impacting demandfor the enterprise. Equally, managerial decisionswere made that adjusted the price of the productin inopportune moments, creating risks of aninternal nature.The purpose of this study is to share lessons learnedand to contribute to the discussion regarding theperformance of CBT initiatives. This documentevaluates the results of the Uakari Floating Lodgeduring the period between 2002 and 2010, byanalyzing the quality of the product (from theperspective of the visitor) and by measuringthe economic and financial performance of theenterprise. Moreover, the evaluation attemptsto measure the impact of certain risk factors oninitiatives of this nature, as well as to generatereflections regarding intangible benefits associatedwith enterprises with similar characteristics.MATERIAL AND METHODSEvaluation of product quality (point of view ofthe ecotourist)In order to evaluate the quality of ecotourismservices, data was analyzed from the period2002 to 2011, collected using a questionnairethat is filled out by guests of the enterprise andwhich includes multiple choice and open-endedquestions. The principal indicators evaluated were:food, transportation, lodging, activities, guides,information availability, cleanliness and an overallevaluation of the visit. The visitors qualified theservices mentioned using a scale of 1 through 5,where: 1 is terrible; 2 is normal; 3 is good; 4 isvery good and 5 is excellent.The questionnaire also collects qualitativeinformation, using a space reserved for suggestions,criticisms and/or complaints. To analyze thisinformation, the comments from the period 2009to 2011 were grouped and categorized accordingto operating sector.With the objective of comparing the quality ofthe services offered by the Uakari Floating Lodgeto other competing initiatives in the ecotourismmarket (Pan-Amazon and Pantanal), queries weremade to the site tripadvisor.com. Tripadvisor.com is a site that helps visitors searching forinformation about travelling. It is the largestsite of its genre in the world, with more than 60million hits per month 7 . On this site, visitors canmake independent and voluntary evaluations 8 ofthe destinations they have visited and participatein discussion forums. With these evaluations,the destinations receive a grading that allowsinterested travelers to make comparisons betweenthe places they want to visit.Tripadvisor is a very highly used tool and isuseful for not only visitors themselves but for themanagers of the enterprises evaluated, since anevaluation written after a trip has been taken tendsto have more details than an evaluation done6The garbage dump located near the airport was putting airplanetakeoffs and landings at risk due to the presence of vultures. So, forsecurity reasons, the airport was closed for nine months.7For more information about the site: www.tripadvisor.com/pages/about_us.html.8Visitors evaluate the following criteria: price, cleanliness, services,location, rooms and sleep quality.98
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ASSESSING THE MARKET FOR ECOTOURISM
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UAKARI - Instituto de Desenvolvimento SustentÃ¡vel MamirauÃ¡

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