Background – In Bolivia, the poorest country in South America, 60 per cent of the population are living below the poverty line. Tourism offers them a route out of this misery. Each year, 500,000 travellers visit this country, which is rich in natural beauty and well preserved ancient cities. This provides around 60,000 full-time jobs, as well as 3.2 per cent of the gross domestic product. Tourism has not yet achieved its full economic potential. The cities of Sucre and Potosí have proved to be popular destinations. Recently, thanks to the financing by the Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) Development Bank, new roads are now leading into the two cities; these make trips down to these two southern Bolivian cities easier. This also gives the tourism-related enterprises and restaurants an even greater incentive to greet the guests with attractive range of products and services.

Project – The Tourists are certainly coming. What has to be done now is to give them a great experience, serve them the local specialties and take them out on interesting excursions. The very things that make the visitors' holiday a better experience actually increase the income of small enterprises and their employees. Working closely with the CAF in Sucre and Potosí, Swisscontact is providing support to around 30 small businesses, the majority of them being hotels and restaurants. In addition, some tourism agencies have also taken advantage, along with firms producing handmade chocolate, sausages and other products. More than 300 employees of these small enterprises are receiving further training in their chosen career. Their bosses are being given the advice they need to enable their businesses to survive in the marketplace and also to continually improve their products. In addition to the 300 employees actively involved in the Swisscontact project, more than 1,200 of their family members are also reaping the benefits. Thanks to the success of the small enterprises all these people are now benefiting from tourism as an escape route from poverty.