Support for development of tourist circuit in Bolivia

The Andean Development Corporation, the mayors of Tiwanaku and Viacha and the SOBOCE Company signed a technical cooperation agreement to execute the Viacha-Tiwanaku-Lake Titicaca Tourist Circuit Development Project.

The ceremony was attended by CAF representative in Bolivia CAF José Carrera, Tiwanaku mayor Lino Condori, Viacha mayor Isabel Tapia, and Samuel Doria Medina, president of Sociedad Boliviana de Cemento (Soboce).

The purpose of the initiative is to enhance the culture and history of Ingavi province in La Paz department, creating a tourist circuit among the localities of Viacha, Tiwanaku and the south bank of Lake Titicaca. The project will stimulate the economic development of local communities and combat poverty. The pre-Hispanic cultures, natural landscapes and the traditional cultures of Bolivia are the key tourist attractions in the area.

CAF Representative José Carrera emphasized the importance of the cultural and socio-economic components of the project. In the area of culture, the outstanding tourist attraction is the heritage of the Tiwanacota and Chiripa cultures. The socioeconomic impact of the project includes improving infrastructure and training local people. The project will directly benefit over 31,000 inhabitants in both municipalities and over 51,000 indirectly.

Soboce will contribute funds to the project, and the beneficiary municipalities will make a local contribution, Carrera explained.

The works to be executed include restoration of plazas and access routes to towns and villages, creation of spaces for cultural and recreational expression, recovery of the regional architecture of homes and other buildings, construction of sanitary landfills, training of local people, organization of cultural activities, recovery of suka kollus, building of paths for trekking and cycling, support for new businesses that offer high quality tourist services, and re-establishment of the train service on the La Paz-Viacha-Tiwanaku-Guaqui route.

In 2002 UNESCO declared Tiwanaku, one of the most important tourist attractions in Bolivia, a World Heritage Site. The main attraction is the archeological site of the ancient capital, especially the semi-subterranean Kalasaya Shrine, the Akapana and Puma Punku pyramids, two museums and the Tiwanaku temple.

Viacha, capital of Ingavi province, forms a bridge between the urban world of the city of La Paz and the rural and ancestral region of the Altiplano. Letanías Hill is another tourist attraction in the area.

The south bank of Lake Titicaca has immense tourist potential because of its natural landscapes and possibilities for ethno-eco-tourism.

This project is part of a wider program of local cooperation networks executed by the CAF, which combine the efforts of financial institutions, the private sector, municipalities and the members of civil society. Bolivian tourism generates the equivalent of 11% of national exports and contributes 2% of GDP.