Elaboration of a Plan of Sustainable Tourism Development in the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua

The global objective of this assignment was to develop a Plan of Sustainable Tourism Development in the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua for implementation in the short-term. The Plan aims at defining the processes and mechanisms of coordination necessary to develop a tourism that is compatible with the preservation and recovery of the region’s natural resources, culture and history, seeking to reduce poverty by generating and distributing the country’s wealth in a fair and equitable manner.

Specific Objectives:

•         Define the model for sustainable tourism development, objectives, strategies and action plan of all levels from diagnosis of the tourism system of the Caribbean Coast to including the private and public sector, communities, and general public among others.
•         Develop specific programmes and actions from the strategies identified for priority destinations in the field study for the short to medium term.
•         Develop a monitoring and evaluation system that includes indicators of progress of the implementation of the plan.

To this end, the following activities were carried out:

•         Thorough document analysis of current situation;
•         Preparation of work plan;
•         Field study;
•         Workshops for participative planning;
•         Development of diagnostics;
•         Presenting diagnostics to the regional and territorial Government, tourism entities, public and private sectors for validation;
•         Develop a strategy and model of tourism development. Present the recommended strategy of the Caribbean Coast and each of the destinations from a prioritization proposal according to the identified conditions in the diagnostic (portfolio of tourism products and selection of markets/segments that are considered for each destination identified);
•         Proposal of the tourism development model for the Caribbean Coast;
•         Development of the plan proposals, action programmes, and programme for implementing the plan;
•         Development of different intervention programmes that are necessary to reach the objectives and goals outlined in the Plan;
•         Formulation of proposal for the improvement of the urban image (of the prioritized destinations) and investment plans of the public infrastructure (focused on tourism);
•         Development of preliminary document of the Development of Sustainable Tourism Plan of the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast;
•         Presentation of preliminary documents and draft of the plan;;
•         Final presentations and implementation of plan.