ILL International Project Management Report FINAL

I LIKE
LOCAL
I N T E R N A T I O N A L P R O J E C T
M A N A G E M E N T
John TAMRAT, Ina WIENS, Tamas KANTZ, Astrid POLLET, Léa BRIAND
ESSCA | PROFESSOR BEN DOGLEY

Agenda
Part 1: Project Management Tools .................................................................................................... 3
I. General introduction of international projects .................................................................................... 3
II. Introduction of I Like Local ................................................................................................................... 4
III. Our part in the whole project lifecycle ............................................................................................. 4
1. Definition of the program (go internationally) ................................................................................. 4
2. Project portfolio & Project lifecycle .................................................................................................. 5
3. Outcomes and outputs ..................................................................................................................... 5
4. Contribution to long term strategic objectives ................................................................................. 5
Part 2: Project implementation .......................................................................................................... 6
I. Project initiation document ................................................................................................................. 6
1. Background ...................................................................................................................................... 6
2. Project definition .............................................................................................................................. 6
3. Feasibility analysis ............................................................................................................................ 7
4. Stakeholders ..................................................................................................................................... 8
5. Risk analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 8
6. Roles and responsibilities ............................................................................................................... 10
7. Initial project plan .......................................................................................................................... 11
II. Change request .................................................................................................................................. 11
III. Work breakdown structure ............................................................................................................ 12
IV. Organization of the team work ...................................................................................................... 13
V. Deliverables ........................................................................................................................................ 14
VI. Next steps and recommendations – Go live ................................................................................... 21
VII. Project review ................................................................................................................................ 23

International Project Management – I Like Local
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Part 1: Project Management Tools
I. General introduction of international projects
The importance of international projects is increasing, particularly, driven by globalization and company’s
capabilities to access to new markets. Therefore, International Project Management needs to consider
different factors, which can influence the triple constraint: scope, schedule and time. Especially,
intercultural aspects, in multicultural teams or cultural differences and misunderstandings, which need to
be taken into account when managing international projects. Different cultural backgrounds can have an
impact on several project management areas like Scope Management, Time Management, Cost
Management, Risk Management, Human Resource Management, Procurement Management, Quality
Management, Integration Management and Communication Management. Intercultural competencies
beside professional competencies are becoming highly relevant to overcoming geographical, language
and cultural barriers.
Our multicultural group consisting of four different nationalities, working on an international project for
a recent small start up called I Like Local. The owner, our project sponsor Sanne Meijboom, is currently in
the process of expanding to different markets in Africa. The first step of the project portfolio began in
entering the Asian markets and developing the I Like Local platform. Our group and the project sponsor
agreed the focus of our work will be on the initiation and planning phase in find business opportunities in
South America (third step of the project portfolio). The goal of the project is to deepen and expend our
knowledge and methodology about International Project Management in a real business context. So the
first task of the project team was to find a company with a fitting project which can fulfill the requirement
to be internationally implemented.
As main stakeholders of our project, we should mention first ESSCA University, represented by Mr. Ben
Dogley and Mrs. Lydia Kernevez in the role of supervisors of the project. Second, the most directly involved
stakeholder is the company, I Like Local, and its CEO, Sanne Meijboom. Finally, the project team is the
third category of stakeholder involved in the project with major role.
In this report we will first introduce the company I Like Local, followed by presenting the project’s
outcomes, outputs and life cycle. Afterwards the Project Initiation document and Work Break Down
Structure will give more detailed insights about the project. The agreed on deliverables will be presented
next. Finally, the report will show possible next steps the company can take in following phases of the
project, give some recommendations and a project review.

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II. Introduction of I Like Local
The new era in the sharing economies presents multitude of opportunities for consumers, while offering
market efficiency:
“Globally, the sharing economy’s size in five key sectors was approximately $15 billion in 2014. It’s projected
to reach $335 billion by 2025. The success of Uber, Airbnb and TaskRabbit isn’t a fad -- it’s a new way of
doing business.” (Zhuo, 2015)
As this new model catches on many new opportunities will be developed through the sharing economies,
one of these being I Like Local, founded by Sanne Meijboom and launched in 2014, an avid traveler and
entrepreneur. I Like Local is a variation of a peer-to-peer travel platform that is focused predominately in
Southeast Asia currently with future aspirations of expanding to Africa and South America.
III. Our part in the whole project lifecycle
1. Definition of the program (go internationally)
Currently I Like Local employs 6 people, has operations in 10 different countries in Southeast Asia and
offers 6 (10 now) categories of activities for travelers (see appendix 1) (I Like Local, 2015). According to I
Like Local newsletter published in February:
“At the moment we have over 300 activities in 10 countries in Asia (a growth of 80% in comparison
when we started) and our host community grew to 130 people (80% growth) and slowly we are
receiving more and more bookings. Although this is not going very fast it was expected as in the
first year people need to get to know about you before they will start booking. We do see more
and more people visiting the site which is a good sign” (I Like Local News, 2015)
All the activities offered by I Like Local are driven and set up with a clear purpose. Their guiding principles
are to connect, engage and empower. Connecting travelers with local individuals in the community of
developing destinations, engaging the travelers to see beyond the surface of the countries they visit,
instead immerse themselves to the local culture and people. Most importantly the activities must be
beneficial to the community and the locals in the community (see appendix 2) (I Like Local, 2015).
I Like Local matches travelers with a local in developing countries through their online website, providing
unique experiences, organized by local people in developing countries (I Like Local, 2015). By booking
these local activities customers empower and stimulate locals directly, while fully experiencing and
interacting with the culture, food, people and locations they visit. I Like Local offer a variety of activities;
Homestay, Farmstay, Trek and Tour, Arts and Culture, Food Experience and Volunteering (see appendix
1) (I Like Local, 2015).
I Like Local first began in Southeast Asia with the founder Sanne Meijboom based in Hong Kong. In its
inception it offered activities the following locations: India, Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Thailand. Following the role out into the Southeast Asia, I Like Local has recently
entered into Africa by offering activities in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The next phase will be looking to
further establish its operations and activity offerings in Latin America.

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2. Project portfolio & Project lifecycle
3. Outcomes and outputs
As outcomes of our project, the company will look to enter a new market which means enlarge the offer
of destination, thus leading to increase in users of the platform, both from partners and travelers alike.
This will generate new sales for the company but also additional incomes for the local economy and
communities in South America. Moreover, as a general benefit, it can be mentioned that more people will
get connected to real everyday life of South American people and it will develop social enterprises in a
developing area of the world. Finally, the way we lead the market research can serve as a reusable model
for a new project of entry a market.
With our project, we will contribute how to enter the South American market and give insights about
which market, partner and communication means to get in touch with. The final output of the whole
project will also be the strategy to enter this new market/s. And, the further step to proceed in the chosen
market with communication and marketing strategy.
4. Contribution to long term strategic objectives
The long term strategic objectives is to built a strong social enterprise which benefits the society all around
the world and can serve as a role model for other social enterprises. Considering that the South American
market can be seen as developing market, entering this market would help to achieve the goal of covering
all the developing countries from a touristic point of view.
Initiation
PlanningExecution
Closure
Asia Africa
South
America

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Part 2: Project implementation
I. Project initiation document
1. Background
Before I Like Local enters the South American market there is a need to gather market intelligence and
awareness to position itself to make the correct decisions, as it looks to expand into a new market. The
information gathering stage is a significant process and project. As the tourism industry picks up within
South America, this presents and ideal time for I Like Local to further expand its platform and relationships
building between communities, through unique personalized travelers experiences with local people in
Latin America.
2. Project definition
Purpose:
To gain market awareness of the Latin American environment, identify most utilized form of channels of
communication to implement in the market and present solutions in tackling language barriers that arise
in the market. This project will seek to place I Like Local in a strategic position to successfully expand into
the Latin America market, growing the platform, expanding activities, locations and host providers.
Objectives:
Below are the three objectives set out for this project:
• Latin American market intelligence
• Recommendation of suitable partners and networks
• Overcome language and other barriers and effective channels of communication
The laid out objectives will be accomplished by implementing focus groups of Latin American respondents
in gathering market intelligence along with information gathering of suitable networks and local
community based tourism initiative operating within Latin America.
Scope:
This project is limited to information and market intelligence gathering of the following issues of concern
for I Like Local:
• South America/Mid America market potential
• Language barriers (level of English speakers in identified markets)
• Finding potential hosts, community based tourism partners and networks
For our project, the mode of entry in this new market is not included in the scope, as for the moment it is
only a study to evaluate if I Like Local should expand or not. Also, the communication is not included in
our part of the work. Again, we should evaluate what are the means of communication the most adapted
and relevant but not design a communication strategy.

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Inputs
Working with I Like Local the project team has been given the following documents to assist the
progression of the project through Skype conversation with the founder Sanne Meijboom:
• Business Development Plan
• Host Participation Guidelines
• UNWTO Tourism Highlights 2014 edition
• Tourist Arrivals Africa and South America XCEL File
In addition to these documents the project team has searched and identified partners and networks in
Latin America through the utilization of online searching and focus group of Latin American respondents.
Deliverables:
• Project charter
• Market Intelligence Report
• Recommendation for communication
3. Feasibility analysis
Benefits:
This project can have beneficial outcomes for I Like Local such as:
• Accelerate entry into the Latin American market
• Increase number of host and activities offered
• Generate or increase platform usage
Using this project, the company can be better prepared to enter the South American market. Moreover,
they will get insights about possible partners and communication channels to engage in. This project will
also lay out some of the barriers the company will be facing like language and possible solutions to address
these concerns.
The contribution of the report can be measured against the effectiveness of the report in progressing I
Like Local into the Latin American market, increasing the number of host on the platform, increase activity
and locations offering to travelers and increase the usage and engagement of I Like Local.
Cost/Benefit Analysis:
The project is compulsory for our group that is why costs are not appearing in the initiation and planning
phase where we focus on and will positively effects the further phases of the whole project budget.
The cost/benefit effect cannot be analyzed for the whole project in our case as there are no data and
figures provided and available about market, investment, sales, etc.
Constraints:

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• Time (4-5 weeks + other projects)
• Specific readily available information on the topic
• Lack of modeling other relevant companies similar to like I Like Local
• Language barriers (don’t speak the language of the targeted continent)
• Communication barriers due to geographic and time distance from Sponsor
4. Stakeholders
Stakeholders
The following stakeholders are represented in this project:
• Sponsor: I Like Local founder Sanne Meijboom
• Professor Dogley & Lydia Kernevez
• Project Team: Léa Briand, Tamas Kantz, Astrid Pollet, John Tamrat, Ina Wiens
• Students who participated to interviews
Communication between stakeholders was facilitated through the use of email, Skype, Facebook, in
person meetings and the use of Google Drive to share information and keep each other updated. The
project team kept the main stakeholder (Sanne Meijboom) updated through email contacts on the
progress of the project as well as Professor Dogley.
5. Risk analysis
Risk Identification and categories:
Schedule risk:
• Unfamiliar areas of the deliverable take more time than expected to design
Requirement risk:
• Requirements have been base lined but continue to change (sponsor, ESSCA)
• The total features requested may be beyond what the development team can deliver in the time
available
Project management risk:
• Priorities change on the existing program and South America gets out from the scope
• No budget allocated for the research – free resources can be used only
Human resource risk:
• Personnel with critical skills needed for the project cannot be found
• Communication problems between team members and sponsor
• Appropriate interviewees cannot be found or are not available to answer

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Impact
High
Communication
problems
Changing
requirements
Medium
Priorities change in
the existing program
-Unfamiliar areas of
the targeted market
-Lack of expertise

Low No budget allocated
Low Medium High
Likelihood

Risk Prevention:
Green fields: accept the risks but monitor them. Even the priorities are changing in the program our
deliverables are still useable later in time.
Yellow fields: management effort worthwhile. As none of the team members have much knowledge about
South America we need outside help. Many of our school mates are from that region who can help us.
Readily available information and documents available from the internet, but with limitation of free
studies as there is no money allocated for research papers.
Red fields: must manage and monitor risks. Communication is needed in multiple platforms to have a
tighten relationship and the share of the information among the core team members is needed in verbal
and written format as well. The documents are stored online and available all the time (Google Drive).
The constantly changing environment forces the core team to control and recheck project activities
periodically.

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Risk Monitoring:
After each phase of the project reassessment is needed as well as after any change in the requirements
happens.
Our strategy to monitor and anticipate risks is:
- Organize internal meeting at least once a week so we can discuss different issues
- Keep the sponsor and teacher informed weekly as well to make sure our tasks fit with the
expectation of all the stakeholders
See appendix 5,6,7: Interviews, in which we explain the concrete risks we met in the project application.
6. Roles and responsibilities

Sanne
Meijboom
Sponsor
John
Project Manager
Ina
PMO
Tamás
PMO
Astrid
Market research
Lea
Database
Ben Dogley
Consulting

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7. Initial project plan
Project name: Latin American entry

TASK Duration (day) Responsible
Phase I. Market Intelligence
1.1 Pre-definition of the project 1 John
1.2 Kick-off meeting with the group
1.2.1 Setting the roles 1 Project team
1.2.2 Making a draft and schedule 2 Ina, Tamás
1.3 Skype interview with the sponsor 1 Project team
1.4
Process the input documents from the
sponsor 3 Lea
1.5 Company assestment (SWOT) 5 John, Astrid
1.6 Market screening and selection
1.6.1 Market selection matrix 2 John, Tamás
1.6.2 PESTEL 3 Ina
1.6.3 Porter's five 2 Astrid
1.7 Business development plan 5 Project team
1.8 Implementation strategy 4 Project team
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Phase II. Measure & control
Out of scope -->
Sanne

Please find the initial detailed planning in the appendix, (see appendix 3 and 4) which includes the
original schedule as well.
II. Change request
It’s natural that during the project life cycle new needs or modification requests are formulated compared
to the original plan. The project management need to develop a methodology of change management
process which corresponds with the features of the specific project.
The change management typically involves proposition and recording of new demands, estimates of the
impact, costs, benefits, risks associated with the change. Furthermore, it explains the business benefits
and asks for approval from the management, coordinate, monitor and document the execution and
review the change and close the request.
The relative differences compared to the plan are not necessarily the result of faulty design or poor
implementation. It can be consequence of a new technology or product, the changed requirements for
the end product of the project, a new competitor in the market, etc.

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There are four main categories:
• Change request initiated by the sponsor. It can refer to the change of scope, budget or timing
• Changes caused by regulatory issues. The regulatory environment can also change, mostly long
run projects have to deal with this kind of change.
• External factors also can influence the project like environmental, economic or political issues.
• Internal factors like varying in schedule, budget, resources and quality problems.
In our case there was a change request from the sponsor, shrink the scope of our work making our project
much more focused on the desired deliverables. As this request was issued the early phase of the work,
didn’t caused significant problem. The group adapted the initial WBS considering the new scope resulting
in a new WBS which can be found in chapter III.
III. Work breakdown structure
Project name: Latin American entry

TASK Duration (day) Responsible
Phase I. Market Intelligence
1.4 Confirm project scope 2 Project team, Mentor
1.5 PID 8 John, Ina, Tamás
1.6 Focus group interviews
1.6.1
Interview questions for focus
group 1 John, Astrid
1.6.2 Doing the interviews 3
John, Astrid, Ina,
Tamás
1.6.3 Conclude the interviews 3 Astrid, John
1.7 Latin America market research
1.7.1 Check input report 2 Lea
1.7.2 Find local organizations 4 Lea
1.8 Send the deliverables 1 Project team

Phase II. Market entry
Out of scope -->
Sanne

Phase III. Measure & control
Out of scope -->
Sanne

Pleased find the detailed WBS with schedule in the appendix 4.

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IV. Organization of the team work
Communication
We organized weekly meetings with an agenda set for the meeting. If someone from the project team
could not meet, we arranged skype session during the physical meeting so everyone could participate in
the meeting.
We sent weekly update to Professor Dogley and project sponsor Sanne to make sure the project is on
track and if not, we would be able to get the earliest feedback and make the necessary changes.
John Tamrat, project manager, introduced the team to Sanne as he already has a professional contact
with her. As the project sponsor, Sanne, is in Kenya right now, we organized a skype meeting with the
whole team to determine what would be the project scope, the outcomes and outputs she expects from
us, the deadline and update needed, etc.
To communicate online within the team and stakeholders, we used Facebook groups so we can share links
and information. We also used Google Drive to share documents so everyone can check and modify it if
necessary. This way, we could all work in the same time and meet the scope of time as it was a critical
constraint for this project.
Team & Sub-teams
During the kick off meeting, John Tamrat, as a project manager, introduced the project to all of us and
we discuss if we accept it or not. Then, we did some brainstorming about the project content, the initial
plan, the milestones, etc.
We divided our group into to sub-teams: one sub-team was dedicated to the project organization, the
second sub-team worked on the project realization. We still kept everyone in the loop on each other’s
work and assisted one another as needed.
During the meetings, at the beginning, everyone gave their feedback on the progress of the project. As
the project was evolving, we were sharing feedback and applying adaptation to the project as necessary.
At the end, we also organized a closing meeting to go through our report and findings. We went through
the report and the presentation, made little last minute changes. We discussed how and when the
deliverables will be handed in.
Interviews
For the final deliverable and the market study, we organized interviews with local people to get their
feedbacks and advices about the project feasibility. To plan those interviews, we used Facebook groups
we can talk to everyone in the same time. Then, we did physical meetings in different places.
See appendix 5, 6 and 7, interview contexts, team management.

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V. Deliverables
Market Assessment
Epler Wood, Megan published a report on Community-Based Tourism Enterprise (CBTE’s) in Latin America,
“this research initiative sought to review the progress of CBTEs, from a triple bottom line perspective;
looking at business competitiveness, conservation outcomes, and community benefits. The focus was on
Latin America where a large number of these programs were launched in the last 10 years.” (Epler Wood,
2008)
Many communities are aware of the power of responsible tourism in supporting conservation and local
economic development. Based in areas often vulnerable, natural and cultural heritage, they take on the
challenge of setting up community based tourism enterprises, usually in partnership with local and/or
international NGOs.
One big problem for these small scale and often remote community tourism ventures is marketing. Too
often it is simply the case that they are so small and so remote that nobody knows about them, the very
thing that makes them special is keeping them from receiving tourists. This means that booking levels and
occupancy are low and they have to rely on support from donors or go out of business.
Other challenges that are pointed out in this research findings include language training, management,
marketing and internet, etc. (see below). These are important findings to be aware of us as they represent
both opportunities and challenges for I Like Local. As a platform I like local will for the most part take care
of the marketing and publicity of the community based tourism activities that are on the platform, making
I Like Local the ideal partners for locals, NGO’s and organizations providing community based tourism.
The biggest challenges that will continue to come up will be language, training on the platform usage,
management and best practice guidelines.
Figure 1. Technical assistance most needed adopted from (Epler Wood, 2008)

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Research findings further illustrates to have a successful partnership between I Like Local and the
community based tourism operations in South America will need to be very mindful of the organizations
and local’s capacity to handle online bookings and responding to regularly to email requests for
information.
This is where the type of technical assistance and training that can be provided will be of significance, as
these communities based business are very local and or regional in nature, “the development of more
trained intermediaries that can act as commercial liaisons between CBTEs (community based tourism) and
the local tourism supply chain would be one good solution to the problem” (Epler Wood, 2008). I Like
Local will need to look to establish itself as the bridge to prepare them for the international market.
Social Media and Digital Marketing in South America
South America maybe a developing region but that has not hindered the introduction and usage of social
media and digital marketing.
“Commenting on the regions growth, Alejandro Fosk, comScore senior vice president for Latin
America, said: “2011 was an extraordinary year for digital media in Latin America as more people
than ever before went online and began adopting behaviors like social networking and watching
online video with increasing frequency.” (Digital Strategy Consulting, 2012)
Digital strategy consulting study has further reemphasized the significant role social media engagement
has started to play in South America. In the study 5 out of the top 10 highly engaged social networks
markets world wide are in South America, with Latin Americans spending more than 56 percent more
time on social sites, Facebook (see figure 2) being the leading site. As South Americans tend to be very
social natural it’s not a huge surprise they have adapted really well to social networks sites.
South America is the fastest growing online population, hungry for social, video and mobile content. A
very engaged population in South America is of further benefit for I Like Local if utilized correctly. As
internet penetration is still increasing high amount of internet usage tends to come from mobile and tablet
users, this could mean I Like Local can be better integrated in South America by making sure their content
and platforms are mobile and tablet friendly especially for local partners. Further analysis of the South
American digital market can be found in appendix 8.

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Figure 2. Tope 20 social networks in Latin America Adapted from (Digital Strategy Consulting, 2013)

Further findings from the study also show what makes each country engaged with digital media. For
example, the chart below (see figure 3) shows that Brazilians are more likely to engage or click on digital
media, if the content communicates self expression as this is more highly valued. Understanding the
motivation of the consumers and how locals interact with digital media can further assist I Like Local
marketing and in their pursuit of local partners in South America and else where.

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Figure 3. What makes each country click Adapted from (Digital Strategy Consulting, 2013)

« Chile is the most advanced (ahead of ‘normal’) Latin American country (11th) beating Brazil (14th),
Venezuela (18th), Colombia (19th), Mexico (21st), Peru (26th) and Argentina (29th) »
- Argentina, motivated by: Transaction (rank 14) and Communication/self expression (Rank 15)
- Brazil, motivated by: Communication/self expression (rank 4) + information (Rank 14)
- Chile, motivated by: Communication/self expression (rank 2) + Transaction (Rank 4)
- Colombia, motivated by: Transaction (Rank 9) + Information (Rank 19)
- Mexico, motivated by: Communication/self expression (rank 13) + Transaction (rank 15)
- Peru, motivated by: Entertainment (Rank 29) + Transaction (Rank 21)

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Business Development Plan
In addition to the market assessment findings we held interviews with students studying at ESSCA from
South American countries (see appendix 5, 6 and 7). Based on the market assessment findings and our
project objectives we developed the questions we thought would be most useful in realizing the project
outcomes.
Although, South America as a region is prime and ready for a platform like I Like Local not all countries are
at the same development level to utilize the platform. In our interviews we were able to see the
differences between Brazil and Argentina compared to Columbia and Mexico. Where as Argentina and
Brazil already have various similar forms of activates, with locals more readily able to take opportunities
of the I Like Local platform, Mexico and Columbia would be more of a challenge with English speaking
ability, and it would be much more of a new concept within this regions, thus the development of trust
and most likely use of intermediaries becomes more critical.
All of the locations do still provide opportunity for I Like Local travelers to experiences the outskirts and
less traveled areas of each of these countries. Developing different communication methods, usage of
intermediaries such as universities, NGO’s, local and regional community based tourism networks will look
different for each country. Although a challenging task, collaboration with other similar platforms,
Universities students needing to realize volunteering opportunity in local communities, and engaging with
local and regional networks (see appendix 9) can ease the entry into the market as the I Like Local builds
name recognition in communities.
In Appendix 9 we created a database list with network’s that would be very useful in assisting I Like Local
in its entry to the South American market. We would especially like to highlight Sumak Travel, which
emphasises on community based eco-tourism, with a social model that goes hand in hand with I Like Local
(http://www.sumak-travel.org/). At first glance this may seem like a competitor, but in reality both
organizations can be beneficial for one another in increasing users, both local service providers and
travelers.
Both organizations are social enterprises seeking to run business that provide a social benefit to all
involved and further assisting in eco-friendly and sustainable development of locals and communities.
While Sumak Travel focuses primarily on the front-end service, providing arrangements for travelers and
dealing with more front end of the service, I Like Local concentrates more on the back-end functions by
providing the online platform and marketing and connecting service providers with travelers.
Currently Sumak Travel is operational in 11 South American countries; Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile,
Columbia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela, and Uruguay. By building a partnership,
customer from Sumak Travel will also have the option of additional travel destinations through I Like Local
offerings, while Sumak Travel will also gain travelers from the I Like Local platform seeking travel
destinations in one of the 11 countries it is currently operational in.

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In addition to this partnership this can also enable I Like Local to further become integrated to the
additional networks and partnerships Sumak Travel is currently in such as:
• Amazonia Comunitaria,
• Mambe
• Zaia Travel
• ACTUAR
• EOS Ecuador
• Runa Tupari
• Coclatours
• Pachamama
• RESPONS Peru
• The Global Community-based Tourism Network
• Retos Al Sur

Becoming integrated in networks and organizations such as these will take care of issues such as
foreignness, trust issues, creating market awareness in the region and further leveraging of business
partners and organizations to benefit the local partners, communities and the success of community
based enterprise’s in the South American region.
Implementation Strategy
Along with partnership and collaboration opportunities available the target market for local partners will
also vary by individual country. In general, though:
- Target middle class and students who speak English with connections to local communities to
develop partnership and activity offering on the platform. Students would be more interested in
this type of development and can play key role in the development of region.
- People (middle, lower class) like to talk about their life, culture and traditions with foreigners but
language barrier can be an obstacle, thus the utilization of students and intermediate organization
to make smooth transition.
- Non profits and NGO’s working with local communities working in education, social services, local
business development, etc. Organizations seeking to develop the local community and people.

The target market should be precisely defined because there are very different level skills of English,
Management and understanding how to utilize the platform. As previously stated it’s not just the
realization of the opportunity this platform can have for the local partner and community but do they
have the necessary training and skills to make it successful, thus determining the need of intermediaries
or the development of some type of in-house training.

To effectively enter the South American market, I Like Local will need to utilize the proper communication
channels. Based on market assessment social and digital media are an important factor within this region
but we must not forget as well that trust, friendship building and at times working with governmental
agencies will also need to be utilized. Through our findings we have conclude the following
communication channels should be used in gaining market entry:

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Communication Channels
- Use of social media is important especially in Brazil (Facebook especially, can utilize YouTube,
Blogs, Twitter and local newspaper ads in small communities)
- More personable connections and creating Facebook community will further enhance the
connection of the local service provider to I Like Local. Personal connections through engagement
and friendship is important in trust building and motivation to work.
- We need to target the influential people who will create the word-of-mouth – blogs through
google
Facebook is a necessary mean for communication but it is a bit broad and people may have a lot of
information on Facebook so it makes it more difficult to target people and reach them properly. In
addition to social media usage, this should be further supplemented with:
- communicate via the local/regional government websites as well.
- Facebook à universities – blog – Pinterest (more a niche)
- Direct contact via email could also be a good idea as it is more precisely targeted.
- Use discussion platforms via Couch-surfing which is quiet developed in Argentina or the blog
Taringa.
Locations to Target
In addition to identified target market, collaboration & partnership and the communication channel, the
location is also of significance. As some of the countries have developed tourism, I Like Local will seek to
offer its travelers the least traveled and visited areas of the countries. Below are some of the regions and
places that were identified through our interview.

There is a real market for those people who want to open their door and show their culture.
Colombia:
- Boyaca
- Canocristales à starting to develop
- Security issues and risks need to be aware
Mexico:
- Little town à official certificate
- Pueblos Magicos à website – authentic towns
- Viva Mexico à official website where we can find little town with the certification
Brazil:
- Historic cities with big university surrounded by local communities that travelers do not
see. The food and music traditions are really strong and people would be more open to I
Like Local.
- Ouro Preto, Mariana, Diamantina (big carnival location)
- Northeast region, small cities with really known beaches but not taken over by tourist
and known more by locals. Cities that are not in the coast have a really strong folklore,
dances, festivals that are hidden gems - Olinda
- Central region, amazing waterfalls: Mato Grosso : Bonito

21
- Coast areas in the south region, that has been impacted by German culture making it
really unique compared to other region.
- In the North the Amazon is another areas of interest for travelers for the culture,
indigenous people; this would most likely be utilized through partnership of local travel
agencies. Not difficult to get there, but much more difficult to go inside the Amazon
forest.
Argentina:
- Humahuaca, Bariloche, Usuhaia – Buenos Aires, Patagonia, Misiones (waterfalls),
Noroeste Argentino, Esteros del Ibera, Mendoza (wine), La Rioja;
- Southern city of the world à city – lifestyle –, à treck, touristic activities ( agricultural
activities)
- Region with gauchos!!!
VI. Next steps and recommendations – Go live
Feasibility
The main question is “Should we enter the South American market or not?”. To this, we can definitely say
yes as most of the countries seem to be really open to this kind of platform and social enterprise offering
an important target of local to share their culture, story and beauty of their country with tourists.
However, it is important to take into account the trust issue that may be present in some cases, with
people form the deep countryside for instance. In that case, an intermediary would be necessary to get in
touch with locals.
Target
To find the right target is critical point in this project:
1. We have two distinct targets: the local we can directly contact and the intermediaries who will
help in the development of the business and platform by getting in touch with local service
providers, thus overpass the language barrier, allow trust and relationship building, etc.
2. We have different profile of local people: people from the countryside like agriculture, they
would do this to make extra revenue in addition to their current form of income and people from
the cities, like students or families, who would do this more because they are open in facilitating
cultural exchange.

22
3. For the intermediaries, we would recommend on focusing on these three types:
a. The students: in most of the country there are volunteering programs in State
Universities so students could help with this
b. NGOs: those who be useful to have only one contact for several local people. They can
help also assist in tackling the issues of trust, language barrier, internet issue, training,
best practice guidelines.
c. The local government: governmental office could be helpful as well as they know the
locals, get their trust and can also help with language and internet issues, etc.
It is essential to mention that, to enter the South American market and overpass those barriers that can
occur in some situations, intermediaries will be essential. Those can be NGOs, local/regional government
or students from volunteering programs as mentioned previously. In Argentina, this intermediary can be
the NGO TECHNO (http://www.techo.org).
Barriers: Language & Internet access
The language can definitely be a barrier in South America. Most of the people have at least basic
knowledge of English, and even more in the cities or the case of students, but in most o the case, like in
Mexico or Colombia, it is not enough to deal with practical issue like current contact with the platform,
etc.
Internet can be a practical barrier as well as the platform is exclusively online. More and more facilities
are set up in South America and alternative solutions are used like pen drive 3G or coffee shops, etc. Again,
internet connection won’t be a problem for locals in the cities and big farmers. However, for very deep
countryside people or indigenous, this can be an issue.
Type of touristic activities:
South America is definitely a region where multiple activities could be interesting for tourist interested in
sustainable and fair tourism. In all the cases, housing/farming, food experience, trecks and nature, art and
culture can be offered. Treck and nature would be more in the country side area whether art and culture
would be more in the city areas.
• Specifically, in Argentina: it could be interesting to find gauchos to welcome tourist in their farm
or people (mostly urban) who practice Tango, which is a very popular dance there. Volunteering
through the NGO Techno can be offered as well.

• Specifically, in Mexico and Colombia: Indigenous people, with the help of trustable
intermediaries, would be willing to open their doors to tourists. Those are also very typical people
with a strong and rich local cultural which can be very interesting for the public of I Like Local.

23
Communication channels
As said in the market study and confirm by the interviewees, the social networks are essentials. This has
to be Facebook first. However, it cannot only be Facebook as it is too broad and over-informed. If we use
Facebook, we have to target very specific groups. In addition, we have to use blogs but on a local or/and
regional scale to target properly the locals, targeting them through engaging content that captures their
interest.
The key question is also the one of trust so to get this trust, we should target the local influential people
and make them talk about the website as the word-of-mouth is a very powerful communication channel
especially in small communities with an indigenous population. Again, NGOs and local/regional
governmental entities can be a very good communication channel through their website for instance or
again via the word-of-mouth. Direct emails send by those can be very good for a precise targeting.
Interviews
We want to point out that the conducted interviews helped us to get more insights about four South
American markets and possible approaches to enter these markets. To get more sophisticated
information and an ideas of activities that maybe offered in the region for the I Like Local platform. An
online survey with a higher number of participants could of also been a useful tool implemented to
evaluate travelers and local partner interest. We are also aware I Like Local is limited in its financial
capabilities which can also dictate the marketing opportunities available for utilization.
To conclude we believe that I Like Local will be in a strategic position to be successful if it utilizes
collaboration and partnership as it looks to enter the market. One of the possible partners to collaborate
with has already been mentioned, Sumak Travel. This partnership will help establish the relationship and
contacts needed to flourish and grow in the market. This will also further open up opportunity for
exposure to it’s platform to Sumak Travel and its partners and networks, bloggers, travelers, local partners
and community.
VII. Project review
As a review of the project, we will go through different steps and related issues we faced during the
project.
First, we had to build the team consisting of 4 different nationalities. In addition, the two stakeholders are
from two other different nationalities. The team discussed the scope and outcomes of the project and
agreed on the direction of the project implementation. An agenda was developed to keep team focused
on the milestones and the necessary steps to be taken.
After the first elaboration of steps, we met with the sponsor via Skype since she is currently located in
Kenya. A personal meeting with her would have been better to build a relationship and discuss face-to-
face all important project details. After the skype interview with the project sponsor, we had to change
the initial WBS because of a change request in the scope of the project. Moreover, the deadline was
postponed helping us to finalize the interviews and the project.

24
The project sponsor provided the first documents we used to gain better insight into the company and
our project objectives. The next step was our own market research combined with creating our own data
base using interview with exchange students from South America.
The core of our project included organized meetings, feedback rounds and conducting interviews. To
control the project steps and outputs we organized weekly meetings. To summarize what was discussed
and to keep an overview about the scope and time, we wrote reports after each meeting, which was also
useful for the team members who were absent. Moreover, we gave a weekly feedbacks to Professor
Dogley and the project sponsor, Sanne.
As a final step, we closed the project using the provided documents by the project sponsor, our own
market research and the conducted interviews.
This project was important to simulate how an international project with an international project team
could look like in our later professional life. There are some lessons learned for us.

For example, we learned to organize ourselves having a packed schedule with a lot of other things to do
in parallel (master thesis, studying for exams, finding an internship etc.) We experienced the difficulties
and success factors that will come in play a real life context, having to juggle multiple tasks while still being
a contributing member of the project team.
Moreover, we had to handle a change in the guidelines which can be compared to a change in
management of a company. In this situation the competence of adaptability is important and we
experienced this ourselves.
In addition, the team struggled with finding a place to meet as ESSCA due to lack of rooms for working in
team. So we had to meet one of our team member flats where we had to deal with space issue, internet
connection issue, etc. In a business context in which people work in one company they could meet in
offices and rooms for team work. Considering the international context, it will become important to work
in teams not being in the same place and not working in the same time zone.
We could experience some communication difficulties as well. The Skype meetings were a solution to
unfeasible physical meetings. On the other hand, problems with the internet connection and time zone
differences had to be overcome.
Due to the limit of the project scope, we will unfortunately not experience the execution and closure
phase of the whole project entering South America. It would have been interesting to be part of project
over the whole project-lifecycle and to reflect the project in accordance to the taught methods.
Finally, we want to point out that we had to face some difficulties which we needed to overcome.
Moreover, dealing with this project will be helpful when entering the working life soon. Particularly, we
will benefit from mentioned lessons learned. In addition, we further developed our intercultural and
adaptability competencies. We enjoyed working on this international project with a social enterprise, as
this experience enhanced our knowledge and capabilities.

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Appendix 1: I Like Local Activities

Activities I Like Local
Homestay Experience the warmth and uniqueness of a family’s own house, eat their local food which is
often the best you can get and get to know their habits and culture. Spend a day or even a few
days with a local family to get that real local experience you will never forget!
Farmstay
Getting to know how it is to work and live on a local farm? Then this is a unique experience for
you. The types of farms vary from tea or coffee plantations to orchard farms -most of them are
organic farms. You can join them in their day-to-day activities or just relax if that’s what you
prefer more. Experience life on a local farm!
Trek & Tour
•
• A local always knows the best places to go, off the beaten track. They can tell you all about their
culture and about their environment and show you the hidden gems. You can go for a short hike,
a trek for a couple of days or a tour around the city. You will definitely see places you would
otherwise not have found.
Volunteering
Sometimes you are traveling and suddenly you realize that you would love to do something for
the local people around you, only for a short period, so that it fits into your holiday. But this type
of volunteering work is difficult to find. In most cases you have to commit yourself for a long
period and pay quite some money. I Like Local has selected volunteering opportunities from one
day to a couple of days without paying large amounts of money. You often get free food and
accommodation in return.
Food Experience
This is all about food. If you like cooking then a cooking class, given by a local, is a good
opportunity so that you can serve your friends at home your favorite ‘local dish’. For the traveler
who just wants to eat a home dinner with a family is a good option to taste their culture. Maybe
your hostess is even willing to share her recipe with you afterwards.
Art and Culture Go on a journey through a countries creative and cultural heritage. Learn how to make local
handicrafts or how to produce silk or enjoy a relaxing massage. All the activities will provide
you insight in sometimes century old methods and techniques.

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Appendix: 2 I Like Local Participation Guidelines for Service Providers

!
Participation guidelines
! !
Thanks for your interest in participating on the I Like Local platform.
Below you will find the guidelines for participation and specifics about
the participation process.
1. The principles & guidelines
I Like Local is set up with a clear vision and three main principles and
guidelines. These principles are:
1. Connect: connecting travelers with locals in developing countries on
a personal basis, which means:
• We only offer private (no maximum size) or small (max. 5
people) groups.
• In case of accommodation we only promote places with not
more than 4 bedrooms.
2. Engage: a traveler must be able to immerse in the local culture by
participating in the daily life of a local. This means:
• Joining them in their day-to-day activities
• Sleep or eat at their place
• Join them in their work (as a farmer, guide, handicraft, fisher
man etc.)
3. Empower: the local and/or local community must benefit from the
activity directly
2. The process
In order to join just send us the following details about the activity.
1. Send us information about your activity (within 1 week preferably)
• A description of the activity (what is the traveler going to do. In
case of activities of more than 1 day describe the activities per
day)

27

28
Appendix 3: Initial WBS

Project name: Latin American entry Allocated day Weekend/holiday
Schedule
TASK
Durati
on Responsible
Phase I. Market Intelligence 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.
1.4
Process the input documents from
the sponsor 3 Lea
1.5 Company assestment (SWOT) 5 John, Astrid
1.6 Market screening and selection
1.6.1 Market selection matrix 2 John, Tamás
1.6.2 PESTEL 3 Ina
1.6.3 Porter's five 2 Astrid
1.7 Business development plan 5 Project team
1.8 Implementation strategy 4 Project team
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Phase II. Measure & control Out of scope --> Sanne
NovemberOctober

29
Appendix 4: Final WBS

WBS
Project name: Latin American entry Allocated day Weekend/holiday
Schedule
TASK Duration (day)Responsible
Phase I. Market Intelligence 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 1. 2. 3.
1.4 Confirm project scope 2 Project team, Mentor
1.5 PID 8 John, Ina, Tamás
1.6 Focus group interviews
1.6.1 Interview questions for focus group 1 John, Astrid
1.6.2 Doing the interviews 3 John, Astrid, Ina, Tamás
1.6.3 Conclude the interviews 3 Astrid, John
1.7 Latin America market research
1.7.1 Check input report 2 Lea
1.7.2 Find local organizations 4 Lea
1.8 Send the deliverables 1 Project team
Phase II. Market entry Out of scope --> Sanne
Phase III. Measure & control Out of scope --> Sanne
October November December
E-mailsbetween the sponsor, the project team and Ben Dogley

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Appendix 5: Interview 1 I Like Local
I. Context of the interview
Date: 19th
of November 2015
Where: Residence de la Maine, open table à atmosphere that allows people to discuss and debate openly
Interviewers: John Tamrat & Astrid Pollet
Interviewees: Natalia & Andrès: Colombian people; Pablo, Alicia & Andrea: Mexican people
Description of the interview:
1. We explained the context:
a. What we are talking about & why do we do this interview: Project for the class
International Project Management, ESSCA
b. What is the company I Like Local about?: Introduction and objectives of the company as
a social enterprise
c. What are our missions related to the project?
d. What do we expect from them?: Discuss openly our questions, interact to give divergent
or convergent point of view, offer new ideas
2. We conducted the interview with open questions: we ask the question and we let interviewees
talking freely, discuss also with the others interviewees.
3. The interview lasted 1hour 15min (from 6pm to 7:15pm).
4. Both of the interviewers talked and ask questions. John Tamrat was more in the role of provoking
the debate and explaining our expectations. Astrid Pollet was took notes of the interview and was
more in the role of giving a framework of the interview, come back to the core question and sum
up the final word.
5. All the interviewees talked. However, people from Colombia (Natalia and Andrès) were more
dynamic and discussed and debated a lot with different point of view on some questions. We
needed to be “pushier” with Alicia, Andrea and Pablo, Mexican people. Therefore, we got
information both on Colombia and Mexico.
6. We got point of view from Colombia and Mexico.
Project management issues:
1. Planning issue: we had to find a date and a place when and where we can meet the most of
people.
2. Team management: Within the whole team, we give tasks to everyone so we decided all together
that John and Astrid would be responsible for those interviews. Within the sub-team, we both
new what we wanted to achieve as an outcome of the interview so we conducted the interview
properly and we both got roles naturally in the interview.
3. Risk management: We tried to invite at least two people per country in case someone cannot
come and provoke discussion between people form the same country. However, for three
countries (Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil), we had only one interviewee per country. Here the risk
was that they don’t come to the interview. What happened. So we decided to interview them
separately.
II. Questions

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1. How feasible do you see this? What kind of tourism is it in your country? Local, individual or big
business?
2. What about the internet access? Are people there able to utilize the platform?
3. What about the English capacity? if they don’t speak English, who could the intermediate? NGOs?
4. What would be the mean of communication we should use? Blog? Participative website?
5. What kind of local population would be interesting in this experience?
6. What could they offer? Accommodation? Trek?
7. What would be the best places to implement the project first? Example of big cities?
III. Interview, results
Project feasibility:
- People not use to that kind of business – open minded to get into the business
- This business already exists – they are people who know how to do this.
- Trust to people – the deal is hard because people don’t open their door very easy
Target:
- Target the low and medium class
- Medium to high class what is involved with lower class
- Indigenous à take care because local hotel already work with local people but they get the money
à look for them
- Doesn’t need to be countryside people – can be local people form the city
- Indigenous à very open people
Intermediate:
- People to connect with: from universities and NGO – not school - social work to do at universities
– private school (higher class) – social business in Colombia going to lower class to make speak
English
- NGOs à small – Rotary – difficult to get into communities because they are really close so we
have to know people there – NGO à local not a global one – Churches
- Start out of cities and go slowly to the target --> university / because it is very difficulty to target
directly indigenous for example
- To have an intermediate is essential because locals need someone to complain to à third party
- Not everyone knows how to use a laptop so we definitely need those intermediary people
Again, be careful to the target= two targets: the one who will be the intermediate and the one who will
welcome the tourist
Language:
- Mexico no English speaking people
- Country side à don’t speak English
Internet access/commodities access:
- Local countryside people and indigenous à mostly they don’t have internet access
Type of activities they can offer:
- Food
- Art and culture

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- Eco tourism - hiking in forest – volcanos – cratère
google
- Facebook à universities – blog – Pinterest (more a niche)
- Radio à agencies
- Email (Mexico) à more professional
- Networks à local country, regional
Where/places to target
- Reserves
- Platform would be useful to connect people who usually won’t talk to each other
- There is a real market for those people who want to open their door and show their culture
- But be careful: it is not everyone!
1. Colombia
- Boyaca
- Canocristales à starting to develop
- Security issues and risks need to be aware
2. Mexico
- Little town à certificate
- Pueblos Magicos à website – authentic towns
- Viva Mexico à official website where we can find little town with the certification
General considerations
- Geographical situation to take into account à need big trucks to move from one place to another
- You need à governmental approbation, permission for business à we are not on the place so
we don’t really need this – be aware about how government operates
IV. Conclusions
Feasibility:
- People must be open to the idea.
Target:
- For direct target: low and medium class – cities and countryside – indigenous
- For intermediary: upper class – students (social projects) – Local or regional NGOs
Language issue:
- Don’t speak English à intermediate
Internet access issue:
- Mostly don’t have internet connection (countryside people and indigenous) à intermediate
Type of activities:
- Food, art & culture, nature
Communication channels:

33
- Social networks and blogs à local and regional
- Influential people à word-of-mouth
Biggest consideration à Find the right intermediate whose critical roles would be:
1. Get people’s trust and contact
2. Manage the language barrier
3. Manage the communication barrier (internet access + word-of-mouth)

34
Date: 24th
of November 2015
Where: Residence Couffon Pavot, open table à atmosphere that allows people to discuss and debate
openly
Interviewers: John Tamrat
Interviewees: Cristiana Drumond: Brazilian girl
7. Explained the context:
a. Explained I Like Local business platform and project objectives of the interviews. Project
for the class International Project Management, ESSCA
a social enterprise
d. Expectations from the interview? Discuss questions, interact to give divergent or
convergent point of view, offer new ideas.
8. Interview conducted with open ended questions with open dialogue
9. The interview lasted 1hour 30min (from 9:10pm to 10:40pm).
10. The interviewee was very engaged with clearly developed answers, questions and ideas for
business implementation
11. Gained a better understanding of the Brazil market, challenges and opportunities available
II. Questions
business?
• Tourism industry typically dominated by the bigger travel agencies, typical target market
and offering thus more expensive.
• Would be viable option to the current tourism platforms currently available in Brazil.
There is great potential to show more of the outskirts of the country, different cultures, festivals,
food and diversity of Brazil.
• Motor cycle tour could be a great option to tour the parts of the country not typically
seen by tourist and wanted most likely by adventures travelers.

35
Target (local service providers):
• Target middle and more so students who speak English with connections to local
communities to develop partnership and activity offering on the platform. Students would be
more interested in this type of development and can play key role in the development of region.
• People (middle, lower class) like to about their life, culture and traditions with foreigners
but language barrier can be an obstacle, thus the utilization of students and intermediate
organization to make smooth transition.
• Non profits and NGO’s working with local communities working in education, social
services, local business development, etc. Organizations seeking to develop the local community
and people.
Intermediate:
• Intermediate organizations and persons to utilize: Students, Teachers working in the community,
local schools and universities, churches, local community based tourism. Important to have a connection
with local individuals and organizations that people trust and willing to work with.
Again, be careful to the target= two targets: the one who will be the intermediate and the one who will
welcome the tourist
Language:
• Language barrier difficulty depends on the region and once the locals become engaged
they more likely to learn (travelers who speak Spanish can have a much easier time with language
barrier as Spanish is closer to Portuguese than English).
• Internet access should not be a hindrance and the government is working on more access
to internet to the population.
• Most people use internet connection through, school, coffee shops, internet through
phone (especially in bigger cities such as; Rio, Sao Paul)
• Food Experience
• Art and Culture (Dancing class, festivals, street art, etc.)
• Volunteering
• Homestay (not ideal in the beginning because it’s not that normal to invite stranger,
foreigner to stay in your home without knowing them well) Young adults (people) more likely
and more comfortable with this than older locals or families. People are really protective thus
less inclined to have strangers in their homes.

36
• Use of social media is important in Brazil (Facebook especially, can utilize YouTube, Blogs,
Twitter and local newspaper ads in small communities)
• More personable connections and creating Facebook community will further enhance the
connection of the local service provider to I Like Local. Personal connections through engagement and
friendship is important in trust building and motivation to work.
google
• Historic cities with big university surrounded by local communities that travelers do not see. The
food and music traditions are really strong and people would be more open to this idea.
• Ouro Preto, Mariana, Diamantina (big carnival location)
• Northeast region, small cities with really known beaches but not taken over by tourist and
known more by locals. Cities that are not in the coast have a really strong folklore, dances, festivals that
are hidden gems - Olinda
• Central region, amazing waterfalls: Mato Grosso : Bonito
• Coast areas in the south region, that has been impacted by German culture making it really
unique compared to other region.
• In the North the Amazon is another areas of interest for travelers for the culture, indigenous
people; this would most likely be utilized through partnership of local travel agencies. Not difficult to get
there, but much more difficult to go inside the Amazon forest.
1. Gaining people’s trust and language barrier
2. The cost of the travel – expensive to travel across the country
III. Conclusions
Feasibility:
- People must be open to the idea.
Target:
- For direct target: low and medium class – cities and countryside
- For intermediary: students, teachers (social projects) – Universities, Local or regional NGOs and
organization.
Language issue:
- English can be an issue certain regions à use intermediate platforms such as NGO’s, University
students, teachers, etc.

37
Internet access issue:
- Internet can be accessible and the use of internet and social media is further increasing à for
those without access ability to use coffee shops, school and NGO facilities to access internet.
*possible look into a mobile friendly platform as this is the easiest form of access for certain
regions and population in Brazil
Type of activities:
- Food, art & culture, Volunteering
Communication channels:
- Social networks and blogs, with content focused on self expression, enticing story telling à
local and regional
- Influential people à word-of-mouth
Biggest consideration à Find the right intermediate whose critical roles would be:
1. Get people’s trust and contact
2. Security and safety, there are regions in the country to be aware of such as the
Northeast region and Rio. Due to poverty crime rates there are much higher. *Smaller
cities in the central and southeast, south region like Bonito, Mato Grosso, etc. Small
towns tend to have less crime.

38
Date: 2nd
of December 2015
Where: Tamas’s private place
Interviewers: Astrid Pollet, Tamas Kantz, Ina Wiens
Interviewees: Fran Panario – Argentinian guy
12. Explained the context:
a. Explained I Like Local business platform and project objectives of the interviews. Project
for the class International Project Management, ESSCA
a social enterprise
d. Expectations from the interview? Discuss questions, interact to give divergent or
convergent point of view, offer new ideas.
13. Interview conducted with open ended questions with open dialogue
14. The interview lasted 1hour 30min (from 9:10pm to 10:40pm).
15. The interviewee was very engaged with clearly developed answers, questions and ideas for
business implementation
16. Gained a better understanding of the Argentina market, challenges and opportunities available
II. Questions:
business?
- Woofing (organic stuff) à worldwide – you host people and they work for you à this is already
implemented in Argentina
- Use couchsurfing to get in touch with people
People would be interesting in doing this project.
- The students would be interested in doing this project, being intermediaries, as they have to
realize volunteering activities/programs in the State University.
- The target should be precisely defined because there is very different level of income

39
- Old agriculture
- Very big farmers still interesting
Language:
- The basic English is known Almost everywhere. For people in the cities, English would be
fine.
- In the deep countryside, this would more complicated.
- In Argentina, everyone you can pay would go and talk to the locals.
- NGOs could help with the language barrier.
- For internet access, everyone as a pen drive 3G so even in the country side, this should be fine.
- The internet access won’t be a problem neither in the cities nor countryside.
- In case, link made by municipalities – government – tourism office
- Homestay/farmstay
- Art & culture: tango
- Treck/tour
- Food experience
- Volunteering: teaching math, English, computing
- Techo à Argentina, Chile and Uruguay – building houses for family with them – local feed the
volunteering – would be fine with English because intermediaries
- Facebook – to broad – not focus enough – infobesity – but still very important
- Talking about regional government
- People from countryside: word-of-mouth – not sure
- People from the city: mails NGO – Facebook
- Blog Taringa
- Couchsurfing
Humahuaca, Bariloche, Usuhaia – Buenos Aires, Patagonia, Misiones (waterfalls), Noroeste Argentino,
Esteros del Ibera, Mendoza (wine), La Rioja;
Southern city of the world à city – lifestyle –, à treck, touristic activities (// agricultural things)
Region with gauchos!!!
- Find competitors
- Look for places which are touristic for local people
- Argentinian would use the platform to travel
III. Conclusions:

40
People would be interesting in doing this project.
The project would be feasible because there are many places in Argentina where this can be implanted
and because population is already use to these kinds of projects.
We can target both people from the countryside and from the city as host to welcome the tourists. They
would have different things to offer. In the country side, the target can also be traditional agriculture as
the ones with huge exploitation.
As intermediaries, we should target the students because they have volunteering projects to realize in the
State University so they could be helpful for the language barrier for example.
Language:
English can be a barrier mainly in the deep countryside. To overcome this, we can either pay people for
that, get in touch with NGOs or, as said previously, work with program students.
The internet access should not be a major issue in Argentina as everyone as at least a pen drive 3G.
In case locals don’t have internet, we could make the link with the local municipalities, or local
government entities or even the tourism office.
- Homestay/farmstay
- Art & culture: tango
- Treck/tour
- Food experience
- Volunteering: teaching math, English, computing
One NGO is working with local people who doesn’t have money to built their houses. This would be a
very good experience to offer as a volunteering touristic activity: the tourist helps to built the house but
is fed by the locals and work with them.
à TECHNO
Facebook is a necessary mean for communication but it is a bit broad and people may have a lot of
information on Facebook so it makes it more difficult to target people and reach them properly. We can
use specialized groups.
We should communicate via the local/regional government websites as well.
Direct contact via email could also be a good idea as it is more precisely targeted.

41
As other ways, we can use discussion platforms via Couch-surfing which is quiet developed in Argentina
or the blog Taringa.
Cities’ names:
- Humahuaca
- Bariloche
- Usuhaia
- Buenos Aires
- Misiones à waterfalls
- Mendoza à wine
- La Rioja
Regions: Patagonia, Noroeste Argentino, Esteros del Ibera
Regions: Patagonia, Noroeste Argentino, Esteros del Ibera
Region with gauchos!!!

42
Appendix 8: South American Analysis

Document 1 :
Digital marketing in Latin America – A snapshot of the world’s most « social » region
http://www.digitalstrategyconsulting.com/intelligence/2012/07/digital_marketing_in_latin_ame.php
« Hungry for social, video and mobile content »
five of the most engaged social networking markets worldwide
the fastest growing online population in the world à + 16% in 2011, up to 129,3 million visitors
Google sites à Most visited (2011)
Facebook à most-engaging web (25% of the whole time spend online)

à Those figures confirm the results of interviews!!
Ad revenues: + 1 »,2% in 2011 (biggest growth)
- + 86% for online spend for Argentina in 2011
- + 69% for Colombia
- + 25% in Brazil
Ranking of time spend on social network per population in 2011:
1. Chile
2. Peru
3. Colombia
4. Mexico
Entertainment websites: +14% (97%) of online users in the region – Ranking: Peruvians, Colombians and
Chileans are the most
à Should we consider Peru and Chile to enter the South American market??
Paid search = largest revenue driver for online ad (+19% - 14,9 billion $)
Mobile and tablets = Puerto Rico = leader with 7,7% of digital traffic of the region
Brazil = number 5 worldwide for mobile internet users – Mexico and Colombia are next
Brazil: 39,9% of mobile web traffic coming from tablets – 38,9% for Colombia – 30% for Ecuador – 27,8%
for Mexico – 27% for Costa Rica
According to forecasts, Argentina, should have the biggest growth followed by Brazil (7th rank of ad spent
worldwide)
Document 2 :
Internet users and local penetration : South America
Highest penetration of online populations: Argentina, Colombian Uruguay and Chile
Lowest number of online users: Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia

Document 3 :
Top 10 countries for social media engagement : Argentina and Brazil lead the way
Argentina + Brazil: the most engaged social networking markets worldwide
Argentina + Brazil = more than 10hours on social networking sites (2012)

43
LinkedIn = second most visited social network in Latin America
Facebook = strongest SN
Latin America = +56% time spend on social network than worldwide average

Document 4 :
Global web consumer trends : study reveals what makes each country click
« Chile is the most advanced (ahead of ‘normal’) Latin American country (11th) beating Brazil (14th),
Venezuela (18th), Colombia (19th), Mexico (21st), Peru (26th) and Argentina (29th) »
- Argentina, motivated by: Transaction (rank 14) and Communication/self expression (Rank 15)
- Brazil, motivated by: Communication/self expression (rank 4) + information (Rank 14)
- Chile, motivated by: Communication/self expression (rank 2) + Transaction (Rank 4)
- Colombia, motivated by: Transaction (Rank 9) + Information (Rank 19)
- Mexico, motivated by: Communication/self expression (rank 13) + Transaction (rank 15)
- Peru, motivated by: Entertainment (Rank 29) + Transaction (Rank 21)
Document 5 :
Top 20 social networks in Latin America
Facebook: number 1 – + 7,915 million users between 2011 and 2012
LinkedIn: number 2
Large growth: Ask.com - +12,739 million user’s same period – Rank 6+ Tumblr - +5,471 million user’s
same period – Rank 4

44
Appendix 9: Database

WEBSITE NETWORK SPECIFIC LOCATIONS ENTITY TYPE AREA
http://turismoruralcr.com LOCAL North Costa Rica / Guanacaste Tourism agency Community-based tourism
http://www.actuarcostarica.com REGIONAL Community alliance Rural alternative tourism
ACEPESA http://www.canturural.org/jos/index.php/conozca-nuestros-afiliados/12-acepsa REGIONAL Non-governmental organization Sustainable tourism
STIBRAWPA (actuar)
http://www.obturcaribe.ucr.ac.cr/nuestro-enfoque/turismo/etnoturismo/8-general/152-asoiacion-
indigena-stibrawtra LOCAL Yorkin Local women-community association Community-based tourism
ASOMOBI (actuar) http://asomobi-costarica.com LOCAL Biolley (South) Association of women Community-based tourism
ALBERGUE HELICONIAS (cooprena) http://www.heliconiaslodge.net LOCAL Hotel/Tours local provider Rural tourism
http://www.tusoco.com REGIONAL Tourism agency Community-based tourism
https://www.facebook.com/Rest-Red-Solidaria-de-Turismo-Yasun%C3%AD-247568441980753/ REGIONAL community organization Community-based tourism
http://www.rita.com.mx REGIONAL Tourism local agency Community-based tourism
http://www.sendasur.com LOCAL Chiapas Tourism agency Tourism with specific local experiences
ORIGINS http://www.originsargentina.com/en/community-based-tourism/ LOCAL
Northwest, Misiones, Mendoza, Rio Negro,
Buenos Aires Tourism agency Community-based tourism
PROYUNGAS http://proyungas.org.ar REGIONAL North Argentina and Centro de las Yungas Fondation social Local environment
http://proyectoturismopuno.blogspot.fr LOCAL Puno Tourism local agency Communitary rural tourism
RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL PERU http://www.responsibletravelperu.com REGIONAL Tourism agency Responsible tourism
PACHA PAQAREQ https://www.facebook.com/rural.tours.peru LOCAL Cusco Tourism local agency Rural tourism
COCLA TOURS http://www.coclatours.com REGIONAL MACHU PICCHU, Cuzco Tourism local agency Community-based tourism
http://site.tucumbrasil.com REGIONAL
CEN Community Empowerement
network http://www.endruralpoverty.org/who-we-are/about-us/history-of-cen REGIONAL Community empowerment Community-based tourism
http://larutamoskitia.com LOCAL
Misikito Coast, Garifuna Coast, Rainforests
Highlands Community corporation Eco, community-based tourism
http://www.ecohotellacocotera.com/index.php/la-empresa LOCAL Rosario, San Bernardo Community-based company Eco-tourism
http://www.kaiecotravel.com LOCAL La Guajira Tourism operator, communitary organizationCommunity-based tourism
REDTURS http://www.redturs.org/nuevaen/index.php NATIONAL Community-based tourism
SUSTAINABLE PANGEA http://pangeasostenible.org/en/initiatives/ NATIONAL Non-governmental, international corporation
Sustainable development, social
entrepreneurship
SUMAK TRAVEL http://www.sumak-travel.org/sustainable-tourism-destinations/ NATIONAL Tourism agency Eco-tourism
VOLONTARIO GLOBAL http://www.voluntarioglobal.org/en/our-work/what-we-do NATIONAL Non-profit association Volonteering for local people
http://www.andestropicales.org/index.php NATIONAL: Venezuela, Argentina and Bolivia Private foundation Community-based tourism
TOURISM CONCERN http://tourismconcern.org.uk/?s=latin+america NATIONAL Registered charity Community-based ethical tourism
INTERNATIONAL ECOTOURISM
SOCIETY (TIES) http://www.ecotourism.org/ties-overview INTERNATIONAL Non-profit organization Eco-tourism
NAME COUNTRY
COOPRENA COSTA RICA
ACTUAR COSTA RICA
TUSOCO VIAJES BOLIVIA
COSTA RICA
COSTA RICA
COSTA RICA
COSTA RICA
REST ECUADOR
RITA MEXICO
SENDASUR MEXICO
REDTURC TITICACA PERU
ARGENTINA
ARGENTINA
PERU
PERU
PERU
NATIVOS ACTIVOS: LA COCOTERA COLOMBIA
TUCUM BRAZIL
LA RUTA MOSKITIA HONDURAS
BRAZIL
PROGRAMMA ANDES TROPICALES
WORLDWIDE
LATIN AMERICA
LATIN AMERICA
LATIN AMERICA
LATIN AMERICA
LATIN AMERICA
LATIN AMERICA
KAI ECOTRAVEL COLOMBIA

45
Reference:
1. Epler Wood, Megan. 2008. Epler Wood International. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.eplerwood.com/pdf/Community_Based_Tourism_Enterprise.pdf. [Accessed
26 November 15].
2. Digital Strategy Consulting. 2012. Digital marketing in Latin America- a snapshot of the
world's most 'social' region. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.digitalstrategyconsulting.com/intelligence/2012/07/digital_marketing_in_lati
n_ame.php. [Accessed 17 November 15].
3. Digital Strategy Consulting. 2012. Internet users and local penetration: South America.
[ONLINE] Available at:
4. Digital Strategy Consulting. 2013. Global web consumer trends: Study reveals what
makes each country click. [ONLINE] Available at:
5. Digital Strategy Consulting. 2013. Top 10 countries for social media engagement:
Argentina and Brazil lead the way. [ONLINE] Available at:
6. Digital Strategy Consulting. 2013. Top 20 social networks in Latin America. [ONLINE]
Available at:
7. Zhuo, TX., (2015). Airbnb and Uber Are Just The Beginning. What’s Next for the
Sharing Economy. Entrepreneur. [Accessed 20 November 2015]. Available from:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/244192
8. I Like Local., (2015). The Concept. [Online]. [Accessed 15 November 2015]. Available
from: https://www.i-likelocal.com/about.html
9. I Like Local News., (2015). News Update February. [Online]. [Accessed 15 August
2015]. Available from: http://us3.campaign-
archive2.com/?u=acec7305e976cd988f92e4c9c&id=9bf7681c5e

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