How We Do It Differently

Sustainability Series, Part 2:

As an organization that defines itself as ‘sustainable,’ Awamaki is faced with constant inquiries about what that really means. In response, we have created a series of blog posts that tackle questions about tourism, sustainable tourism, and how Awamaki practices sustainability. The first blog post addressed the tangible differences between sustainable and unsustainable tourism. This is the second post and we will discuss the specific practices that make Awamaki a sustainable organization. 

Sustainable tourism at Awamaki: 

Investing in the families that live in a host community and offering economic opportunity to those who are often marginalized by or excluded from tourism is an essential aspect of combatting the inequality tourism can bring. At Awamaki, our sustainable tourism program works in deep collaboration with indigenous women and their families to provide direct access to the economic benefits of tourism. Our artisan partners are paid fair, negotiated prices for their handmade products. The amount of time the women put into each product and the skill it takes is factored into their payment. Furthermore, our partners are paid upfront for their work and their income is not dependent on whether the goods they make sell. 

Awamaki also has a number of training programs meant to support our partners in hosting and selling to tourists. The ability to provide comfortable and engaging experiences for visitors is extremely valuable. When a new community is joining our team, they go through rigorous instruction about the expectations tourists may have. Particularly regarding home-stays explanations; the artisans learn why tourists are interested in the ‘Andean Overnight Experience’, what they need to be content in terms of food, temperature, and scheduling, and what they may want out of the relationship with their host family. They allow our partners to understand what tourists are looking for and how they can provide it authentically. Through this education, local artisans gain the ability to curate positive experiences for tourists, increasing their income opportunities.

Other trainings include those about quality control, intellectual property, and successful colors, patterns, and designs. These all similarly work to empower our partners, offering them the capacity to act independently in the global market. 

Through these practices, we are seeking economic sustainability for our artisan partners. We form financial relationships that are long-standing, reliable, and not entirely dependent on whether or not any given day was a high-tourism day. We also attempt to teach our partners skills they can utilize to be economically independent and successful in the modern world. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This relationship also strengthens appreciation for cultural heritage. In the rural indigenous communities where Awamaki works, women have few opportunities for education and economic participation, but they are highly skilled in the traditional fiber arts of the Andes. Sustainable tourism offers women the opportunity to earn an income by sharing their knowledge of weaving or knitting instead of having to leave their community and cultural practices to work in a hotel or a job in a nearby city. Awamaki’s tourism program encourages our artisan partners to continue practicing and building upon their traditions. They are not expected to work quickly or cut corners for the sake of increased production. The tours of their communities that they offer through Awamaki’s program allow the artisan women to profit from demonstrations of their culturally rich practices, from dyeing to spinning to weaving. The women are in control of the experience they offer to visitors, and they do not offer a performative or Westernized version of local traditions. 

Through this system of tourism, we are seeking cultural sustainability for our artisan partners. It allows traditional craftwork to be financially advantageous, encouraging the continuation of those practices. 

Finally, Awamaki prioritizes preservation of the natural environment in our tourism and artisanal production. Sustainability is at the forefront of all of our practices. Our design team seeks to reuse even the smallest scraps of leftover fabric. We also work to eliminate plastic from all of our processes, from replacing the plastic filling used to stuff baby toys we sell at the store with yarn trimmings to replacing plastic bags and tarps used in tours with reusable cloth ones.  

By always keeping the environment in mind, we are seeking ecological sustainability. Our artisan partners' cultural practices are inextricable from nature. It is essential that we work to protect the Earth, which is where the materials and inspiration for Awamaki’s products comes from. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, we have explained the specific ways Awamaki works to be sustainable within the standard definition of sustainable tourism. We create secure financial relationships and teach profitable skills, we encourage the continuation of sincere tradition, and we minimize environmental harm in our tours and production. But there are also less easily categorized pratices that are equally important in fulfilling our mission here in Ollantaytambo. In the third blog post, we will explain other ethical practices, at the forefront of which is the cultivation of autonomy.