Featured Project Connecting Local Artisans to the Tourism Economy Dominican Republic
Originally viewed as a way to lift people out of poverty, tourism in the Dominican Republic with its all-inclusive model has excluded Dominican entrepreneurs, leaving little benefits for local people. EplerWood International developed the Puerto Plata Heritage & Arts Development Project working in partnership with the Vermont Institute on the Caribbean to form a community not-for-profit enterprise to generate jobs and income based on local culture, establish linkages with the all-inclusive hotels, and help to build Puerto Plata's identity as a sustainable tourism destination.After one year, the Artesanos y Artisas Unidos de Puerto Plata (AAUPP) is celebrating its successes and learning from its challenges... Read More
About EplerWood International EplerWood International was launched in January 2003, by Megan Epler Wood, founder and past president of The International Ecotourism Society, to advise private business, government, international development projects, non-governmental organizations, and academic institutions on the development of sustainable tourism and ecotourism. Learn more Ecotourism Then & Now Epler Wood has also launched a column, Ecotourism Then & Now, an 8 part chronicle on the evolution of the first organization in the world fully dedicated to tourism as a sustainable development tool. Read the column on the TIES or EWI site.
In The News
Megan to Teach at Harvard in September Recognizing the need for formal training in the area of sustainable tourism, the Harvard Extension School this fall offers the new course, Environmental Management of International Tourism Development - both online and on campus - as part of its Graduate Program in Sustainability and Environmental Management. Taught by sustainable tourism expert Megan Epler Wood, the course lays out specific methodologies. See full press release
Blog detailing July Short Course on Ecotourism Development at UVM now available If you missed the course this July at the University of Vermont taught by Megan Epler Wood with various industry leaders as guest speakers, the events of each day have been chronicled at http://blog.uvm.edu/vbc/.
EplerWood International was launched in January 2003, by Megan Epler Wood, founder and past president of The International Ecotourism Society, to advise private business, government, international development projects, non-governmental organizations, and academic institutions on the development of sustainable tourism and ecotourism. 
