Tinkuy Turismo Comunitario

Cuyo Chico was once renowned for its traditional ceramic handicrafts. But as plastic and other inexpensive materials became more widely available, demand for traditional ceramics declined, making it increasingly difficult for artisans to earn a sustainable income from their work.

For the families who depended on these activities, the challenge was about more than losing a source of income. Traditional knowledge and practices were also at risk of becoming harder to sustain.

In response, 12 families came together through the Ricchariy Association of Cuyo Chico and began working together through Tinkuy Turismo Comunitario.

Their vision was to create opportunities to earn an income locally while keeping their customs, traditions and knowledge alive.

For women in particular, local income-generating opportunities were important. Without opportunities close to home, some had to look for work outside the community, making it more difficult to balance earning an income with caring for their families and working their farmland.

Community Tourism offered another possibility: creating experiences around the culture, knowledge and traditions that were already part of everyday life in Cuyo Chico.

Tinkuy had the cultural knowledge and traditions needed to create meaningful experiences for visitors. But connecting those strengths with the tourism market was another challenge.

Over the course of its partnership with Planeterra, Tinkuy received support to strengthen its Community Tourism activities, including capacity building, improvements to facilities and equipment, and support to develop experiences that could welcome travellers while maintaining the traditions at the heart of the association’s work.

This included strengthening experiences around traditional pottery and gastronomy and helping connect Tinkuy with the global tourism market through travel partners such as G Adventures.

The goal was not simply to bring more travellers to Cuyo Chico.

It was to help create opportunities for the families involved while allowing visitors to learn from and participate in experiences rooted in the community’s culture and everyday life.

The partnership also builds on Tinkuy’s own leadership and efforts. The families continue to make decisions about their enterprise, contribute their own resources and determine how they want their Community Tourism activities to develop.

When Tinkuy Turismo Comunitario had to leave the space where it had worked for years, the 12 families that make up the association faced a difficult question: What do we do now?

Instead of starting over in another rented space, they decided to build something of their own.

Tinkuy has worked as an association since 2008 and has been a Planeterra community partner since 2022. Over the years, the families have created a space where visitors can learn about their culture, traditions and way of life through Community Tourism.

But they recently had to leave their former premises. The land belonged to the municipality and had to be returned for the construction of a new community plaza.

It was not the first time the association had had to leave a rented space. This time, however, they decided they did not want to keep moving from one place to another.

“We would ask ourselves, how are we going to keep moving from one rented space to another? So we thought it would be good to get our own space and build our own workshop.”

Hilda Quinto, Tinkuy Turismo Comunitario

The decision had been made. Now they had to find a way to make it happen.

The 12 families began saving to purchase a plot of land and explored different ways to finance the construction.

When they shared their situation with their partners at G Adventures, they received support through an advance payment for their empanadas. Together with their own savings and contributions, this made it possible for them to purchase the land.

But buying the land was only the beginning.

Construction was still ahead, and the time to leave their former space was approaching. As work began, the association temporarily moved to another location so they could continue working, welcoming visitors and investing their own money, time and effort in the project.

The process was full of challenges.

Finding people who could take on the construction work was not easy and, at times, members of the association had to take on part of the work themselves.

They worked through faenas, a form of collective community work, while continuing to organize meetings, plan, solve problems and make decisions together.

The families contributed more than money.

They contributed their savings, labour, and time, working together to create a space they would own and shape themselves.

“We have fallen down, we have gotten back up, we have done everything. We have been through a lot. Financially, we have made sacrifices, and still, we finished our space.”

Salome Melo, Tinkuy Turismo Comunitario

It was a collective effort. The families organized themselves, made decisions, solved problems and kept moving forward, even when the goal seemed difficult to reach.

During this process, Planeterra provided additional support through a special fund that helped move the construction forward.

The support included the purchase of key materials, access to architectural expertise to help with the design of the new space, and accompaniment throughout the construction process.

This support built on the longer-term partnership between Tinkuy and Planeterra, which has included capacity building, improvements to facilities and equipment, and support to strengthen Community Tourism experiences.

Together with the families’ own savings, contributions and labour, the support helped turn their plans into a permanent space.

The result was not a space built for Tinkuy. It was a space built by Tinkuy, with support from its partners.

Today, Tinkuy Turismo Comunitario has something it had never had before: a space of its own.

The new premises allow the families to welcome visitors more comfortably and, above all, give them greater security to invest in their own future.

They can now think about how to adapt and improve the space according to their needs and aspirations.

The association already has new plans. They want to create a small café, put a traditional oven into operation so visitors can learn about the process behind their famous empanadas, and create new spaces for cultural and educational workshops.

They also want to strengthen their Community Tourism activities and welcome more visitors.

“Now that it is our own space, we can expand it, do many things and keep improving it.”

Raquel Becerra, Tinkuy Turismo Comunitario

For the families who make up Tinkuy, the new premises represent much more than a building.

They are the result of years of work, sacrifice and decisions made together.

The space gives them a foundation from which to keep building

One of the moments Bertha Becerra remembers most happened on May 3.

The new premises were not yet finished, but the families decided it was time to move.

That morning, they held a faena, moved their belongings into the new space and, on the same day, welcomed their first group of visitors.

There were still things to finish and the space was not yet fully organized. But when the guide saw the new premises, his reaction was immediate:

“This time you have a much bigger space!”

For Bertha, the moment meant much more.

“I felt like crying with happiness. I said, ‘We are finally in our own space.’”

Bertha Becerra, Tinkuy Turismo Comunitario

The visitors were able to enjoy a larger and more comfortable space. For the members of Tinkuy, after everything they had experienced, it was also a moment to recognize what they had achieved together.

They had done it. They had their own space. And they were already welcoming visitors into it.

The new premises do not represent the end of Tinkuy Turismo Comunitario’s journey. They mark the beginning of a new chapter.

The 12 families want to continue strengthening their Community Tourism activities, sharing more of their culture and traditions and creating new experiences for visitors.

They also hope to welcome more travellers and generate higher income for the families that make up the association.

“That is what we want for the future: to always have more visitors, to have more income for our association so that we, the members, the 12 families, can help our children move forward.”

Raquel Becerra, Tinkuy Turismo Comunitario

Today, the doors of Tinkuy Turismo Comunitario are open to visitors who want to learn about their work, discover their traditions and share their experiences.

But above all, they are open to a future that the 12 families can now continue building from a place of their own.

“Now we have our own space and we want to strengthen our activities, teach our cultural and educational activities and have more visitors.”

Salome Melo, Tinkuy Turismo Comunitario

What began as the fear of losing a space became an opportunity to build something more lasting: a place of their own, created through the effort of 12 families and ready to keep growing.