South America Hub HUB SUR

Regional Context

Our South America Hub (HUB SUR) is coordinated by the University of Cuenca in Ecuador. UCuenca is a public university — free of tuition fees under Ecuador’s constitution — and actively researches sustainable tourism development, including in communities that depend on tourism in the Cajas Massif Biosphere.

Around 40% of UCuenca’s students come from economically vulnerable backgrounds, yet only 15% secure employment after graduation, pointing to an urgent need for a more professional and practice-oriented approach to tourism education.

Ecuador’s tourism sector represents 4.4% of GDP, but faces significant challenges: biodiversity loss, the need to balance growth with conservation (especially in the Galápagos), weak professional tourism profiles, and gaps in skilled labour. For the region’s most vulnerable students, hospitality and tourism offer a real alternative to migration or informal employment — provided the education is up to the task.

Focus Areas

Community-Based Tourism, Cultural Preservation, Local Empowerment

Looking Ahead

The South America Hub is building toward a model of tourism education that leaves no one behind — one where students from economically vulnerable backgrounds gain the professional skills, international exposure, and industry connections to become drivers of sustainable tourism in their own communities.

UCuenca already leads the Southern Ecuador Tourism Studies Network, and through ICP Connect we aim to expand that regional leadership into a broader multi-stakeholder network that shapes sustainable tourism policy and practice across the region.