In Ecuador, tourism began in the 80s, but only 1.4% of the population is currently employed in touristic activities; the sector is controlled by a small number of investors and local communities, mainly in rural and naturalistic areas, keep being excluded. Tourism often brings conflicts between communities, Government and private investors concerning the use and property of lands. The area of Mitad del Mundo, targeted by the project, hosts a museum-park, which is the most visited attraction in the country, with about 700,000 visitors. Nevertheless, touristic operators organize only one-day trips, thus ignoring completely all the surrounding area. It is a poor rural area 30 km from Quito, where the unregulated presence of caves for construction material is causing a remarkable environmental damage. Nevertheless, the area host important archaeological and naturalistic sites, such as the Geo-botanic Reserve of Pululahua, various buildings from the colonialist past and Incas sites.

• 5.550 people, including unemployed people, low-income rural population from the Communities of Caspigasí, Pululahua, Santo Domingo, Rumi Cucho, Los Reales and Tanlahua.

• 30.000 people living in the Province of Pichincha.

• Training in Hotel & Hospitality.
• Identification, development and promotion of tours and related services.
• Creation of a Tourism Agency to promote and sell touristic services offered by local communities (guides, transports, restaurants, archaeological museum, etc...)
• Training to eco-guides and development of naturalistic and archaeological tours.
• Creation of home-stay in Caspigasí del Carmen, Pululahua, Rumi Cucho, Santo Domingo and managerial training to hosting families
• Trainings about Environmental Education and Participatory Management of the Pululahua Reserve Natural Resources.