Caminos de Liderazgo, which started in May 2014, is an effort focused on capacity building in leadership and entrepreneurship for local entrepreneurs and local tour operators.  Local entrepreneurs from the Osa and Golfito Cantons have chosen the name “Caminos de Osa” to describe their group of businesses, which are primarily located on the Osa Peninsula.  In a possible future phase of Caminos de Liderazgo, the focus will be on development in other areas of the ACOSA region.  In the last few months progress has been made in many areas, including valuable workshops with national tour operators and the beginning of a process to assess the art and cultural offerings already available in the area.  The Caminos de Liderazgo project is being executed by RBA, with the participation and support of many collaborators.

In July a group of national tour operators traveled to the region to offer their first workshops to the participants. Tour operators included Travel Excellence, Swiss Travel, and Horizontes.  The tour operators had the opportunity to get to know the businesses that are a part of Caminos de Liderazgo and to conduct a preliminary analysis of the level of development of each business.  The July workshops also included the participation of Wooki, a branding firm that worked with the Caminos de Liderazgo participants to define a brand for their collective businesses.  The work with Wooki resulted in choosing the name “Caminos de Osa”. During this time RBA continued their effort to introduce the program to important actors in the public and private sectors.

In early August, Caminos de Liderazgo had multiple teams working in the region.  One team conducted workshops to analyze the art and cultural offerings found in the area.  These workshops identified history, nature, cultural associations, and producers of art and culture in Puerto Jimenez, La Palma, El Progresso, Rancho Quemado, and Drake Bay. The goal of better understanding the art and culture of the region is to be able to further develop the artistic and cultural offerings to diversify the tourism experience. 

In August another team included national tour operators, and focused on basic requirements that local businesses would need to meet to be included in the packages offered by these tour operators.  The national tour operators conducted an analysis of all participants in Caminos de Liderazgo to assess the level of the development of each business.  Additional meetings were held with potential collaborators in the region.

In late August, another workshop was convened to work on topics related to finance and insurance.   Specific sessions were given on taxes, costs and expenses, prices and the role of prices in a competitive market, and insurance. This workshop provided an opportunity to explore questions and uncertainties held by small business owners, and to discuss potential solutions to some of their specific challenges.

Caminos de Liderazgo will continue for approximately an additional 18 months.  If you are interested in collaborating in this process or learning more about it, please email us at <inogo-info@stanford.edu>.