Regional Sustainable Tourism Destination Management Program for Puerto Rico’s El Yunque National Forest
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Cornell’s Sustainable Tourism Asset Management Program (STAMP) at the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise have launched a five-year collaboration focused on facilitating the development of sustainable tourism destination management strategies with local institutions and forest partners. STAMP will provide technical assistance to the agency to develop El Yunque National Forest and the surrounding region as a sustainable tourism destination in the aftermath of recent hurricanes.
Technical Assistance for Sustainable Tourism Development
Tourism in northeastern Puerto Rico continues to rise, with more than one million people visiting El Yunque annually. A key emphasis of the project is to identify opportunities for tourism development that are most likely to generate economic, social, and environmental value for the El Yunque region.
A multidisciplinary team will perform a sustainable tourism assessment in the Northeast region that combines geospatial planning, sustainable infrastructure analysis, examination of tourism business markets and supply chains, and research on tourism policy and governance. Among the areas impacted will be PR-186 road, which runs through the municipalities of Río Grande and Canóvanas, where important El Yunque assets, such as the Espíritu Santo River Observation Point and the historic properties of Casa Cubuy and El Verde Ranger House, are located.
Submit an Expression of Interest to Support the Technical Assistance Work
In 2025, STAMP will run several invite-only Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to engage companies to undertake analyses in support of this work. The following categories of services will be contracted and conducted between December 2024-November 2025:
– Alternative Tourism Business Markets Analysis
– Development of GIS Sustainable Tourism Regional Planning Hub and GIS Baselines
– Sustainable Infrastructure Analysis
– Alternative Tourism Local Supply Chain Analysis
– Tourism Policy and Governance Analysis
If you would like to receive additional information about these opportunities, including notifications to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI), please fill out the form at the link below.
Expression of Interest FAQs
Local Capacity Building and Professional Education
The partnership also seeks to strengthen professional education in sustainable tourism and local post-disaster destination management, including offering educational opportunities for Puerto Rican professionals focused on tourism, business, local government, and regional planning.
As part of the project, a multidisciplinary group of professionals from the Island, representatives from the tourism and hospitality industry, government, non-profit organizations and communities surrounding El Yunque will plan for the future of sustainable tourism and destination management in the region. Cornell will support them with training, professional development, technical support, proven sustainable tourism frameworks, and implementation grants.