This is how we support ancestral and sustainable tourism in the upper Magdalena region.

During the Environmental and Ancestral Week in Balance with Nature organized by the University of Cundinamarca, the institution's academic strategy to contribute to the development of tourism in the Alto Magdalena and Tequendama regions was revealed.

The teacher, Ángela Ricaurte, explained the strategy 'Ancestral and sustainable tourism: tourist validation of the cultural heritage of the upper Magdalena as a post-covid-19 strategy', a work that aims to strengthen this industry.

From the Faculty of Administrative, Economic and Accounting Sciences, in the Tourism and Hotel Management Technology Program in Girardot, special work is being done with the first and second semester students of said program.

“Girardot impacts the people of the Magdalena and Tequendama highlands, such as Nilo, Ricaurte, Tocaima, Beltrán, La Mesa, Anapoima, and when the students arrive they encounter the first thematic core of identity and culture where we determine that they are not very sensitive to their history, their heritage; we do not know at what point in education history has been lost,” the teacher stated at the event.

In this way, students are taught that before colonization and before the Spanish came to Colombia, the ancestors of the Panche culture existed and left great cultural legacies.

“What we analyze with the students from the first and second trimesters is that we are tourists by inertia and not because of good management from the territories or the State,” said the teacher.

The Tourism and Hotel Management Technology program at UDEC is committed to the social appropriation of heritage, fostering a sense of belonging, its dissemination, and its protection. Students in their second semester – Tourism Inventory – are made aware of the importance of planning from a local perspective.

Therefore, the following conclusion has been reached from academia:

– The people in charge of tourism and culture in the Municipal Mayors' Offices are not suitable.

– Graduates have the profile to occupy a state cultural management position.

– The experiential heritage classes have exceeded expectations.

– Local public administrations face the great challenge of managing the enjoyment of some private assets.

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