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Tourism with a human sense: experiences that change lives

17 February, 2026

The Tourism Program of the University of Cauca, in conjunction with the Foundation for Stimulation in Development and the Arts FEDAR, developed a pilot inclusive tourism experience that combined academic knowledge with social and pedagogical practice, showing that tourism can be a path towards inclusion, education and human transformation.

The initiative was part of the project “Inclusive Tourism as a Job Opportunity for People with Intellectual Disabilities at the Foundation for Stimulation in Development and the Arts – FEDAR, in the city of Popayán,” led by the GITUR research group, with the support of the Vice-Rector’s Office for Research at the University of Cauca. As part of this project, a tour was conducted at the FEDAR Farm, located in the Calibío district, where more than one hundred participants—including students, teachers, and educators—experienced a day of learning, creativity, and community building. During the visit, attendees learned firsthand about the educational and production processes developed by the Foundation, including ceramics making, paper recycling, painting, the Radio Papel radio station, the agroecological garden, and the FEDAR Coffee project, cultivated and processed by rural youth with intellectual disabilities, who demonstrate daily that inclusion is also built through work, art, and the land.

Thus, this experience sought to integrate FEDAR’s pedagogical and productive processes with inclusive tourism, highlighting the potential of this community as an active protagonist of new ways of doing tourism in Popayán, as expressed by teacher Luz Marina Ardila, “One of the main purposes was to design an inclusive tourism experience that integrates FEDAR’s pedagogical experience and its potential for inclusive tourism, understanding that tourism is the means, not the end.” It is worth noting that the Physiotherapy Program of this institution also joined the process, contributing to the integral development of the participants and strengthening their vocational skills from an inclusive approach, in accordance with the purpose of enhancing the autonomy and capabilities of the FEDAR community.

This collaborative effort between academia and the community reaffirmed that tourism can be a space for education, inspiration, and transformation, as it seeks to promote tourism with a human focus, recognizing each person’s abilities, value, and right to participate fully in society. Because when academia and the community work together, experiences that transform lives are born.