How to empower Malingas attractions

 [Exclusive] The contact with Nature  and a millenial history are their best assets, but it's necessary to run the extra mile for making them irresistible.

By César Correa Castillo. All photographs from FACTORTIERRA Archives.

 

TAMBOGRANDE, Peru - After finishing my studies of Touristic and Hotel Management at César Vallejo University in Piura, I felt attracted by the work that FACTORTIERRA has done in  Malingas Community in 2009, especially due to the international impact it got.

YOUTUBE: Watch the spot that FACTORTIERRA.NET produced to attract the interest on Malingas resources.

Because of that investigation, that crew deserved  the 2011 Environmental Citizenship National Award, the first one ever gotten by any initiative in Piura Department. Even in 2013, this was the location used by History Latin America network  to reenact a story that the website published in 2008 and what was seen by 40 million homes across the continent.

Upon that basis, I went to Malingas in 2014  and started my grade research. My two investigation methods were the direct observation and the application of  polls on locals as wel as the potential users. Additionally, FACTORTIERRA allowed me accessing to its archive and the technical assistance from its crew.

Malingas Community is located in the southeastern portion of Tambogrande District, bordering to Ayabaca and Morropón Provinces at the same time.  Malingas Village, what may be called its capital, is just 11 km or 6,8 miles  and 10 minutes away Tambogrande City in normal conditions, going up the road to Chulucanas, one hour away Piura and Sullana Cities as well, the two most populated in the region.

I sustained and approved my thesis in July 2017, calling it Touristic Resources of Malingas Community, Tambogrande District, Piura Province, For Developing  Rural Tourism - 2014. I will share on this article  its key sightings.

FACEBOOK: Take a photographic tour around Malingas.

 

Landscape And Archeology - enthusiasm, Skepticism, Sustainability
First, Malingas Community locals do know there are  touristic resources in their zone, getting the major percentage the natural landscapes , traditions and  habits (36%), followed by petroglyphs and traces of the Inca Trail  (17% and 11% respectively). Those touristic resources in-inventory favor the practice of rural tourism, so they must be kept in a sustainable manner and implemented correctly for the eventual arrival of tourists.
The identification of locals  with the existent resources in the zone is solid, what may ease their keeping, and it is through this identity that  it can get  actions like the right implementation of those resources with basic services as water,  electricity, accesibility.
Secondly, and based upon the results of the poll I applied, the suport that any touristic entreprenurship could have in Malingas Community would be controlling because of almost a half of  of the population (49%) is interested in participating. The lead motivation for the locals is the cultural interchange  with foreigners. They also see the tourism as an economic opportunity because  35% of the population wish to offer  touristic services, mainly guidance and restaurants.

In the other hand, skepticism among the respondents is also evident. Although the people would work into a touristic initiative, they would do disjoint when the ideal should be they associate and strengthen through value chains. If any entrepreneurship were launched but without the right integration, distrust could damage it, losing sustainability.

Third, the potential touristic response  of Malingas Community is high: 70% of tourists arriving into Tambogrande City wish to know Malingas. It's an encouraging percentage. It's necessary to remark that  Malingas has to be implemented  in a right way for that potential demand can hold longer. The resources atractive for tourists coincide to the ones mentioned by the locals, being also the natural landscapes and traditions & habits the most desired, followed by the petroglyphs  & traces of the Inca Trail.

FACEBOOK: Look an archeological survey somewhere Malingas.

 

Identity, Infrastructure, Training And Associativity
However, all this potential will require to set up some things in order, despite it's not possible to forecast the success of any initiative.

First, the natural and cultural touristic resources in-inventory on this work must be kept in a sustainable manner because they are exposed to threats, as cases were already registered.

I suggest the local government (understanding the district's or the community's or both) stakes,  like touristic training programmes which get the people to be conscious  for keeping  the resources they hold, reaching that way to make solid  the identification among the tourists. It is also recommended  to implement touristic infrastructures  those can satisfy  the needs and expectations of tourists arriving  into the zone.

Second, developing a training program  addressed to Malingas population for  they learn, assume, and decide what way they can join  an eventual touristic entrepreneurship, stressing out those insights: the natural and cultural reality of the area,  the discovery of the own potentials as a provider of touristic services, and the need to associate in value chains.

About those insights, incorporating strategies of marketing and business culture for the people can act with strategic perspective so they  turn the tourism into another  important economic activity in their community.

Third and lately, before the potential arriving of tourists into Malingas Community, the local government must  stake the population to join productive chains, improving the access to touristic resources, marking clearly the touristic zones, improving the basic services like water, sewerage, and electricity.

It's necessary to add that in field tests that FACTORTIERRA has done with real visitors (Canada, Lima and Piura) in 2009-2011, the acceptance has been very good, so  if we unite these experiences to those sightings and recommendations I share, I do believe it could be much better.

In the end, I thank everyone who helped and collaborated to me for finishing this work, to Malingas people  I'd like to say  I hope to enjoy their hospitality very soon, and you who read this I'd like to notify that if you need I enlarge some concepts or ideas I shared here,  just contact me by clicking on this link.

 If you want to get the original thesis by César Correa, write us at factortierra@gmail.com or on our Facebook account.