Our aim is to help local communities around the Kibale National Park buffer zones appreciate their position as important stakeholders and beneficiaries of the tourism industry. We are changing traditional perceptions of what constitutes tourism by turning various aspects of rural cultures and livelihoods into tourist attractions in their own right and creating income-generating activities.

Our Community Tourism Entrepreneurship Training empowers people to be more aware of the value of their community assets — their culture, heritage, cuisine, and lifestyle. It motivates them to convert these into income-generating projects by offering a worthwhile experience to visitors. We give communities the capacity to document their community assets and tap the many niche or special interest tourism markets, such as eco- or nature-based tourism, cultural tourism, heritage tourism, and health and wellness tourism they may attract. We help entrepreneurs develop their community assets into appropriate, viable, and sustainable new attractions, facilities, services, and experiences to meet the needs and expectations of various tourism market segments.

One major focus is empowering women through skills training for homestead tourism, handicraft production, and rural hospitality in order to sustain village life and culture, improve livelihoods, connect villagers to global market opportunities, and reduce the need for outward migration. 

We understand the positive impact sustainable tourism can have in local communities and aim to use the economic clout of tourism at the grass-roots level to protect human rights and the environment. Our simple, yet effective method of reallocating funds from the tourism industry back into community initiatives, such as at Kahangi, includes improving community access to primary health care, renewable energy, and other community development services. We seek to give a voice to communities where tourism takes place in order to encourage more equitable, sustainable, and community-based tourism.