Business and community entrepreneurships program!

Transfer in Quito

Quito’s Old Town

The historic center of Quito has one of the largest, least-altered and best-preserved historic centers in the Americas. Quito, along with Kraków, were the first World Cultural Heritage Sites declared by UNESCOon 18 September 1978. It is located in the center south of the capital on an area of 320 hectares and is considered one of the most important historic areas in Latin America. There are about 130 monumental buildings which hosts a variety of pictorial art and sculpture, mostly of religious inspired in a multi-faceted range of schools and styles and 5,000 properties registered in the municipal inventory of heritage properties.

Economic activity is varied, here is where most of the action of the auto industry is concentrated especially in the assembly for domestic and export consumption, increased construction activity across the country, is the national leading exporter of flowers, wood, and non-traditional products such as palm and asparagus and several products from the valleys.

TRIP TO IMBABURA

Visit to Cotacachi

Located at the foot of Cotacachi Volcano, it was founded in 1544 by Pedro de la Peña, and is the largest canton in the province of Imbabura. In 2000 was declared “ecological Region», preserving its green areas and wildlife through the Ecological Reserve Cotacachi Cayapas.

The city remains prosperous thanks to the Tertiary Sector which is 70% of the jobs in the city, agribusiness and food processing such as barley, beets, sugar cane, potatoes, vegetables, citrus, vineyards and olives are also increasing, the artisan sector and secondary is widely dedicated to fashion since the main product of the clothes they sell is the leather, this is why Cotachi is known as the Leather City.

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OTAVALO

Visit to Peguche
The peaceful village of Peguche is located just outside of Otavalo. Peguch is a beautiful waterfall of 18 m high, formed by the river of the same name, which starts at Lake San Pablo. The waterfall is one of the most important tourist attractions in Otavalo because of its proximity and easy access.

Otavalo´s Artisan Market
Otavaleños are famous for weaving textiles, usually made of wool, which are sold at the famous Saturday market. Although the largest market is on Saturday, there is a very wide range of wares available throughout the week in the Plaza de los Ponchos, and the many local shops. The shops sell textiles such as handmade blankets, tablecloths, and much more.

During the market’s peak, almost one third of the town becomes full of stalls selling textiles, tagua nut jewelry, musical instruments, dream catchers, leather goods, fake shrunken heads, indigenous costumes, hand-painted platters and trays, purses, clothing, spices, raw foods and spools of wool.

Totora Sisa Project
This project works with local artisans specialized in working with Totora (a local plant). Their products include baskets, ornaments, furniture, exclusive designs, and recycled paper. Their main objectives are to help entrepreneurial aspirations of ingenious communities to more effectively produce and sell their products.

The organization teaches them techniques and skills like marketing, effective production methods, English, and how to sell their products.

COTOPAXI AND TUNGURAHUA

Salcedo Town
At the heart of the Cotopaxi province of Ecuador lies the sleepy little town of Salcedo. The ice-cream is a traditional dish in this region and has proved to be a most enjoyable treat to virtually every person that has sampled it and because of this the town has begun to gain a world-famous reputation. Besides de ice-cream you can also try the pinol and machica.

Guano

TRIP TO BOLIVAR

Salinas de Guaranda
Salinas de Guaranda, also known as Salinas de Tomabela, is an Ecuadorian village at the altitude of 3550 m at the Andes in the province of Bolivar.

Is a wonderful place, because of the great spirit of community and the multifaceted creativity and productivity of the many cooperative businesses found there.

Today, there are some 100 small businesses flourishing in Salinas, manufacturing and exporting locally made chocolates, cheeses, woven clothes, hard sausages, fruit preserves, dried mushrooms, and many other items. The town is a great place, to buy local products or to walk around at the edge of the Andean high alpine vegetation.

The products are sold under the brand Salinerito.

AZUAY

Cuenca
The city of Cuenca is the capital of the Azuay Province. It is located in the highlands of Ecuador at about 2500 meters above sea level. The center of the city is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Trust site because of its many historical buildings.

Cuenca is in one of the richest agricultural basins of the Ecuadorian Andes and is the commercial center of southern Ecuador. Although isolated from the north and the coast until roads were cut through the Andes in the 1950s, the city has modernized in recent years and tourism is on the increase. Economic development is based on industry and agricultural development.

GUAYAQUIL

Visit Malecon 2000
Malecón 2000 is the name given to boardwalk overlooking the Guayas River in the Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil. An urban renewal project focusing on the old Simón Bolívar boardwalk, it stands along the west shore of the river for an approximate length of 2.5 km. (1.5 mi.) Several of the greatest historical monuments in the history of Guayaquil can be seen along its length, as well as museums, gardens, fountains, shopping malls, restaurants, bars, food courts, the first IMAX theater in South America, as well as boarding docks where several embarkations offer both daytime and nighttime tours up and down the Guayas River.

Las Peñas
Las Peñas is one neighborhood of the most emblematic of the city of Guayaquil. It was declared as Cultural Heritage in 1982, even though their houses are about 100 years of construction, have a colonial style and architecture similar to that of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The neighborhood of Las Peñas is one of the few historical legacies that owns the city, its narrow streets, their homes along