Penelope Birding

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Penelope Birding, Unweaving Colombia.

Penelope Birding was born out of the initiative of two cousins to develop biodiversity conservation and research projects. An initiative that was limited by the lack of support for such initiatives in Colombia. This, for us, became an opportunity rather than an obstacle. Thus Penelope Birding was born as a company; an enterprise that seeks to put tourism in function of biodiversity conservation. In addition, our knowledge was a strategic advantage; we knew that -mainly- foreign tourism is interested in learning about the experiences of a biologist and an ecologist who together have been walking the deep and forgotten Colombia for several years. We then developed "Unweaving Colombia" seeking to show each one of the fibers that compose the canvas of our territory, from birds to traditions, passing through landscapes and useful plants, gastronomy and different ecosystems. So we had a reason to be and a product to offer.

Well, up to here for many it may sound like an excellent idea and a beautiful way of trying to save the world, but for this to work it was necessary for our idea to get out of paper and get into the tourism business. For this, we are proud to admit that we received a great amount of support, greatly accelerating the learning curve (indispensable process considering that a couple of professionals in the environmental area, trained to be scientists, know as much about creating a company as a business administrator knows about taxonomy of woodcreapers). The entrepreneurship unit of the Universidad del Quindío supported us by giving business shape to the idea of Penelope Birding, they also invited us to participate in the UTravel Lab, where we learned about the current dynamics of tourism and the best strategies to design and sell tourism experiences. Then we started the process with the "Fondo Emprender", which concluded in a formally constituted company and a fund of 80 million pesos (25,000 USD Aprox) to boost Penelope Birding. At the same time we trained in the design of birding experiences with the Audubon Society, allowing us to design a portfolio of services suited to the needs of the birding market.

Thus, Penelope Birding, our venture that a little more than a year ago seemed like a nebula of ideas, today is a company that generates 5 jobs and has multiple allies. Little by little we are contributing to the growth of the region and slowly taking conservation tourism from the idea to the practice.