EplerWood International has worked in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Sierra Leone and El Salvador creating regional and national strategies for sustainable tourism; winning solid, financial support for development plans that respect natural and cultural heritage.The firm has demonstrated that sustainable tourism planning helps nations identify their most strategic attractions and preserve them to leverage more capital for reconstruction.

The firm began its first assignment in 2003 in Sri Lanka, just after peace accords had been signed, to help develop ecotourism in the South as a tool to diversify and bolster the economy and build value for tourism assets in the nation as a whole.

"I first traveled to Sri Lanka in 2000, when I was still the president of The International Ecotourism Society," Megan Epler Wood remembers, "and saw first-hand how the guerilla war in the North was undermining the tourism economy in the South. When I founded EplerWood International, I helped perform due diligence for a new Sri Lankan tourism partnership, composed of leading hoteliers in the country, that planned to build a model ecolodge near a rainforest reserve. I was able to provide key guidance at a pivotal moment. We won $900,000 in matching funds from USAID for Sri Lankans to develop the resort in a manner that preserved biodiversity, provided pro-poor benefits, and created an environmental standard for tourism development."

When EplerWood International was called in 2006 by the Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS) of the World Bank to work in Sierra Leone on corporate social responsibility and tourism, Epler Wood assumed it would be too dangerous to go. The UN Troops were just withdrawing. But after visiting the country, she found it was not only safe, but had tremendous potential.

"Sierra Leone captured my heart and mind," comments Epler Wood. "My work showed that by attracting social and environmentally motivated investment to the country, it would have a better chance of jump starting redevelopment. Our partnership with the Sierra Leone National Tourism Board was critical to achieving a solid plan for redevelopment of tourism in Sierra Leone. We worked closely with them to show FIAS that ecotourism development could attract responsible, pioneering investors. And we won $900K for Sierra Leone to continue planning for these markets."

EplerWood International is now working in El Salvador, a country that has not seen conflict for 15 years. But, despite its strategic location in Central America, close to highly popular international tourism destinations in Guatemala and Honduras, El Salvador is virtually unknown to international tourism markets. Epler Wood's firm is working from 2007-2009, under contract with USAID, to develop ecotourism in Western El Salvador where coffee farms and national parks are primary attractions. Her firm is charged with helping to raise $2 million in new investment and tourism economic activity in the region.

"We have discovered that domestic tourism in El Salvador is a potent force for redevelopment. Citizens of the capital, San Salvador, have easy access to their beautiful parks, Pacific Coast, and coffee highlands;" says Epler Wood, "and we are helping business people and workers cooperatives to learn how to responsibly develop authentic tourism attractions based on their culture, parks, and scenic beauty. It is a natural!"

More information on these projects can be found on the EplerWood International website, or by Contacting Megan Epler Wood today.

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EplerWood International was founded in January 2003, by Megan Epler Wood, founder and former 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 worldwide.