Country: Peru
Sector(s): Ecotourism
Investment sought: US$2 million
Investment received: US$760,000
Year founded: 1992
Number of employees: 50
Company summary:
Rainforest Expeditions is a Peruvian ecotourism company founded in 1992 by Eduardo Nycander and Kurt Holle with the purpose of providing authentic educational experiences that support the conservation of the areas where they operate.
Company description:
Rainforest Expeditions is a Peruvian ecotourism company that pairs tourism lodging with intensive, educational experiences and on-site conservation projects that customers help finance. The lodgings are beautifully situated and comfortable, yet unobtrusive and eco-friendly. RFE seeks to operate a chain of lodges unique in character, but with a shared concept of ecological and social responsibility as well as maximum use of the local natural and cultural resources.
The company currently runs three complementary ecolodges in the southeastern rain forest of Peru: 30 room Posada Amazonas (opened 1998), 24 room Refugio Amazonas (opened 2005) and 18 room Tambopata Research Center (opened 1992). The stockholders of Rainforest Expeditions also have a partner travel agency, called Selva Reps, that operates a fourth lodge in the Peruvian Andean region of Huascaran National Park, called Konchukos Tambo (opened 2005).
At Posada Amazonas, a lodge which belongs to the community of Infierno, over US$250,000 a year of income is generated for families through liquid profit, employment and purchase of supplies and services. Over 30 permanent full time jobs and four small business have been created. The relation between tourism and nature has sparked the community to create a communal reserve and to push for an ecotourism concession, protecting 3000 hectares of land.
Website:
http://www.perunature.com
Contact:
Kurt Holle
General Manager
Ave Aramburu 166, Dep 2b, Lima, Peru
Tel: 511-421-8347
E-mail: kholle@rainforest.com.pe
Entrepreneur biography:
Eduardo Nycander, founder and Product Development Manager. Eduardo (43, architect) is the creative heart of the business. Before Rainforest Expeditions he worked as wildlife photographer and ecotourism guide. He is responsible not only for conceptualizing, designing and obtaining the funds for new lodges, he also generates a variety of offbeat projects and alliances that strengthen RFE's existing products. Some of his accomplishments are: the architectural design and funding for Tambopata Research Center and Posada Amazonas, the design of the canopy towers, the initiative for the macaw project, the alliance with the native community of Infierno for the Posada Amazonas project, and alliances with Conservation International for the strengthening of RFE´s research center.
Kurt Holle, founder and General Manager. Kurt (37, forestry engineer) manages projects as soon as they get off the ground. Before Rainforest Expeditions he worked as a field assistant in a research project and as a guide. He is responsible for directing and leading the management team, handling the company's finances and establishing the strategic direction of the existing products and the company in general. Some of his accomplishments are: leading RFE's marketing efforts for the first seven years and winning some of the company’s most important clients, achieving financial stability even as the company was in start-up mode, building the management team and designing the niche marketing strategy.
Learn more about this company by reading the Rising Ventures profile, written by the New Ventures team.
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Rainforest Expeditions
