How We Make a Difference

At Matagalpa Tours we are committed to sustainability and innovation. We strive to make a difference in not only tourism, but our community and surrounding areas.

Environmental Education

Matagalpa Tours created its own environmental education program called 'Agualí'. A program that works with private funding obtained from the profits from our tours. Therefore, traveling with enables hundreds of children and adolescents from public schools in Matagalpa to learn about environmental issues in a different and very entertaining way.

With Aguali we try to create awareness amongst children and adolescents by means of free educational trips, participation in conservation events, training and other educational methods. Agualí has its own website where the participants can write about how they have experienced the activities they took part in.

More information: www.aguali.net

Matagalpa Tours recently became owner of four hectares of degraded forest in the Natural Reserve Apante. Together with all our staff members, students of Aguali and other volunteers, we try to establish and implement a plan of management and reforestation. We want to contribute to the conservation of the reserve and its a way to compensate our carbon footprint.

Community Development

At Matagalpa Tours we believe that the natural and cultural wealth of Nicaragua would not be the same without the contribution of the friendly Nicaraguan people. That's why our packages are characterized by the involvement of the locals.

We work closely with all our service providers and as part of our sustainability practices we involve them in training about sustainability-related issues. Moreover, we support the development of of the communities by facilitating them with mosquito nets and water filters, but also organizing trips for exchange of experiences between community tourism initiatives.

Innovation

We have designed and organized the first guided tours in destinations, such as El Chile Indigenous Community, Natural reserves ' Cerro Apante' , 'Peñas Blancas', 'El Arenal' , Chocolate Factory ' El Castillo del Cacao' and others. Nowadays all these places are considered to be important tourism destinations in northern Nicaragua.

Matagalpa Tours was the first tour operator that offered and executed a guided tour in the jungle of the Cerro Saslaya National Park; a jungle expedition of 6 days! It is nowadays still a very attractive destination for extreme adventurers.

We have established routes, and offer the first guided mountain bike tours in the northern part of Nicaragua.

We developed tour packages throughout the entire northern zone of Nicaragua. Including Las Segovias, Jinotega, Matagalpa and the Caribbean.

Matagalpa Tours created the first rafting tour in Nicaragua ever! This included the training of the guides for the first guided rafting and kayaking activities in the country. These activities have had a great impact on Nicaraguan tourist.

We created the first kayak expedition in the North Caribbean rivers Bocay and Coco.

Matagalpa Tours is the winner of Güegüense award for Tourism Inovation 2014 - 2015

Collaborations

Matagalpa Tours is member of and collaborates with national and international recognized organizations:

Canatur: Cámara Nacional de Turismos de Nicaragua (National Tourism Chamber of Nicaragua)

Antur: Asociación Nicaragüense de Turismo Receptivo (Nicaraguan Association of Inbound Tourism)

AME: Alianza Mesoamericana de Ecoturismo (Mesoamerican Eco-tourism Alliance)

CBI: Center for the promotion of imports from developing countries

ATTA: Adventure Travel Trade Association

The Code: The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism