An old joke goes that a worse thing than being exploited by capitalism is not being exploited by capitalism at all. Under-exploitation by capitalism could probably be placed somewhere in the middle and an example of it can be seen in the area around a small town of Uyuni in Bolivia. Starting from there, you can take a trip between one and four days long and visit (among other things) the Salar de Uyuni (the famous Salt Flats) and Reserva Eduardo Avaroa (REA) National Park. The Salt Flats, which are the largest and highest in the world, are one of the most beautiful places on the planet. They constitute one of the brightest objects on the earth´s surface and are visible from space. The whole REA area is a natural wonderland supported by one of 12 most important watersheds in South America. The permanent lagoons created by the discharge from Rio Grande, which are used by over 50 species of birds (including three out of the world´s six flamingo species) and camelids, have earned the area a place in Conservation International's list of 34 biodiversity hotspots. One of these lagoons, Laguna Colorado (The Red Lake) (1) has also been considered as a finalist for one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature Campaign (2).

With all this natural beauty on offer you would expect a well established and fully developed tourist industry to simultaneously exploit and preserve the area for the benefit of humans and nature alike. However, your experience may well leave a lot to be desired. Upon arrival at Uyuni, you accept a lift into town from one of the tour operators who promises a quick breakdown of what (s)he has on offer and then you are free to shop around for better deals. When you get out of the car, one of the first things that strikes you about Uyuni is the Wild Wild West characteristic of the empty, dusty, littered, concrete town where you are expecting tumbleweeds to start rolling by at any minute. The tours will set you back anywhere between 500 and 600 Bolivianos (roughly US$70-85) for three days and two nights, with each agent promising visits to sites and locations off the beaten track; great food and accommodation along the way; experienced, knowledgeable and friendly Jeep drivers; personal cooks; and some even promise English-speaking guides.

Having spoken to many other travellers that have completed the three day tour, the only difference between them seems to be the price paid. The tours appear identical: same routes, cold lunches (that were very similar each day), good hot dinners, but extremely basic accommodation with no heating and sometimes missing windows which exacerbated the effect of the minus 20 degree centigrade night-time temperature. Those travellers who booked ahead were sometimes charged double for exactly the same tour. Some got lucky and had drivers that loved their work, were incredibly knowledgeable and enthusiastic in presenting the area and Bolivia in general in the best possible light. Others, like our group, had silence from drivers at best and wrong information at worst.

At first, my feelings of frustration were directed at the tour organisers and drivers for their lack of commerciality and for not realising that to get ahead all they need to do is differentiate themselves for quality. Once word would spread (getting good reviews in guide books and traveller recommendations on internet forums), they could easily charge double and quickly establish themselves as a leading Salar de Uyuni tour company. This kind of monopoly on quality could be enjoyed for a long time to come, thus reaping the financial benefits and forcing others to improve the quality of their operations. Many other good examples of this can be found in Bolivia. For example, the La Paz based Gravity mountain-biking company that offers trips down the Coroico Death Road among many others is easily the number one choice for travellers. It achieves this despite charging 50% more than their nearest competitor and at least double of the other companies, whilst no longer necessarily being vastly superior in the quality of trips offered. 

However, as I thought about what I would do to improve the experience, I realised that there exist some major obstacles. Firstly, money and its investment in improved services. At least some of the burden would lie with the authorities, who could vastly improve visitors' experience with simple and relatively inexpensive innovations such as information placards at major sites; a free information booklet and the REA park map to be included in the park entrance fee (currently at 150Bs (roughly US$22) for 2 or 3 days); clearing up some of the more littered areas (like the Train Grave Yard attraction which right now could be renamed Plastic Bag Grave Yard, see picture); and so on. This could even pay for itself as we know from previous studies that visitors to the park are prepared to pay higher entrance fees for improved services (3), but that higher fees have not in the past resulted in those improvements being made (4).

The Plastic Bag Grave Yard at Uyuni

Source: Ioulia Fenton.

The other half of the burden lies with the tour operators themselves. Currently, tour companies own some of their own vehicles, but mostly they rent Jeeps from locals who possess them. Our driver borrowed his 4x4 from his brother. The vehicles used for the tours are notorious for being old, lacking heating and breaking down. A vast improvement to the service could be made through investment in newer, eco-friendly vehicles, improving accommodation and applying some imagination to the meals provided, but all this costs money. Credit is not widely available to the average informal entrepreneur in Bolivia and the tourism industry around Uyuni is largely informal and unregulated. The government could kill two birds with one stone by making credit available for improvements and expansion of businesses on the condition that they get formally established and add to the economy by paying business taxes. To strengthen this initiative, the government could commission an official country tourism guide listing formally registered tourism companies in Bolivia and spreading this kind of information to travel agencies and guide publishers, thus allowing travellers to make a more conscious consumer choice.

Alternatively, a more cooperative community approach could be taken in Uyuni, with a focus on quality of products and services, fair wages for all involved, a commitment to environmental sustainability and re-investment of profits in the area. As travellers become more conscious in their choices, this is an increasingly profitable angle to exploit. Better facilities would also help attract the older traveller with deeper pockets looking for a more comfortable experience. At the moment, the majority of the travellers visiting the area (and Bolivia in general) is the 18 to 35 backpacker/ gap-year type. On a personal level, this is great news for me as a visitor since many of Bolivia's sights are not as “touristy” as in other countries. Yet I cannot help but feel that given the country’s low level of economic development, becoming more “touristy” and attracting the “coach-tour” type travellers (which neighbouring Peru manages to do in much greater numbers) would bring many benefits with it, like raising the income levels of local people involved in the tourist trade from the current monthly level of 1,500–2,000 Bs (US$ 200–300) (5). In addition, the town would benefit from a much needed face lift and expansion to make it a more attractive place to stay before and after the unforgettably beautiful tour of the Salt Flats and the Reserve, instead of travellers sandwiching their experience between two night-bus journeys in and out of the town.

Before something like that could be put into practice, local entrepreneurs need to figure out what it is that tourists want. As I mentioned above, currently they seem to only compete on price. However, lowest possible price is not what most tourists worry about (as demonstrated by the success of Gravity in La Paz). Bolivia is renowned for the army of NGOs and other international organisations operating here. Perhaps a good knowledge transfer programme that could be initiated by them (and/or the Bolivian government) would be that of the transfer of the much needed tourism business skills. Businesses could learn how to exploit low cost marketing opportunities presented by the world wide web and networking with other established travel businesses in the country; what it takes to get fantastic recommendations in guidebooks; have English and other language lessons for drivers and guides (thus adding to the country’s human capital); and learn general information about the wants and desires of different types of travellers and how to attract them.

The personal experience I draw upon here may indeed seem like anecdotal evidence, however I am not the only one who feels this way. A recent labour-market survey of the tourist industry in REA and Salar de Uyuni (6) asked local people what they need to improve their income. Over 90% said what they needed was easy access to cheap credit and what they need from the government is economic help, better infrastructure and for the government in general to support the tourism industry. When speaking with owners and employees of hotels and tourist agencies about the deficiencies facing the tourist industry the three main issues identified were related to poor quality of services (e.g. poor vehicles, no provision of basic services, poor hotel infrastructure); the fact that tourists do not spend any time in the town of Uyuni as there is nothing to keep them there; and finally that there is little coordination between various agencies, operators and other actors in the industry.

REA received just over 65,000 visitors in 2007 (with only 27,000 visiting Salar de Uyuni (7)). By comparison, Machu Picchu in Peru receives over 400,000 per year. Whereas an average three day tourist of Salar de Uyuni and REA leaving from Uyuni spends between US$100-200, a backpacker doing a three day trek from Cusco to Machu Picchu and back spends US$450-600. The annual difference in revenue generated from these figures amounts to a staggering $167mn at worst case scenario (8). Of course, Machu Picchu is a very different attraction, but there is no reason why Bolivia could not aim for similar heights. In addition, most travellers stay a long time in Cusco to cushion their trip, something Uyuni could try to achieve too.

REA and Salar de Uyuni are not only some of Bolivia´s biggest tourist attractions, but they also hold the world´s largest reserves of Lithium. The Bolivian government has pledged to invest almost $9mn in a state Lithium Company to exploit those resources (9), which are non-renewable once extracted. However, no similar commitment has been seen to preserve and improve the tourism industry in the country. REA alone has the potential to be worth $80mn per year if it reached just half the popularity of Machu Picchu (10), which is an income that can be sustained for future generations. In addition, no ecological impact studies have been made to evaluate the potential effects of intense Lithium extraction in the area, which could feasibly lead to destruction of the water supply that sustains the 70,000 or so small Quinoa producers in the area (11) and feeds the fragile natural habitat which is the heart of the tourism industry. A more sustainable future may well be achieved if the international community and the government of Bolivia recognised the potential of this beautiful, diverse and naturally unique country and focused resources on a comprehensive and nation-wide eco-tourism sector strategy (alongside existing agricultural production and natural resource extraction sectors) to aid in its development efforts.