Strategies for the development of sustainable tourism in the Amazon rainforest of Bolivia

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the strategies being adopted by the Government of the State of Bolivia to develop sustainable tourism both as a means of protecting the Bolivian Amazon and a mechanism for the realization of the “Living Well” vision of the national government.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides a synopsis of the principal trends in Bolivia within the last decade and then discusses the main tourism destinations of the Bolivian Amazon. The paper then outlines the strategies being adopted to develop a Bolivian brand of sustainable tourism and closes with the presentation of a vision of the Bolivia tourism of the future.

Findings

The findings confirm that in the case of Bolivia, tourism is an activity imbued with a high political ideal, and not merely a force that is at the mercy and direction of market forces and private entities. Tourism development is organically linked with concepts of community self‐actualization.

Practical implications

As an explication of the current tourism policy of the Government of Bolivia and a discussion of the strategies currently in operation to develop sustainable tourism and enshrine the “Living Well” principle, the paper has obvious relevance at all levels of the tourism implementation pyramid in Bolivia, as well as for planners in the Amazon region as a whole.

Originality/value

The Bolivia tourism strategy clearly has some unique characteristics in the context of the Amazon. This paper, therefore, brings to light an alternative national perspective with respect to tourism development in the Amazon region.

Citation

Lima Cortez, S. (2010), "Strategies for the development of sustainable tourism in the Amazon rainforest of Bolivia", Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 136-143. https://doi.org/10.1108/17554211011037822