In this section both, the Colombian region of El Quindío, as well as the existing development plans for the tourist industry in the Colombian Coffee-Growers Axis (Coffee Axis) will be succinctly described.
2.1 The Quindío Region: Socioeconomic Characteristics
The Department of El Quindío is located in the Central-Western part of Colombia, in the Andean region (Figure 1). The Department, which covers 1.845 Km2, belongs to the so-called Colombian Coffee-Growers Axis (Coffee Axis), and is situated along the Western slope of the Andes Central range, between the 04º04'41” and 04º43'18” latitude North and the 75º23'41” and 75º53'56” longitude West.
Figure 1. The Quindío region in central Colombia
The economy of the region has been historically highly dependent on coffee and was, therefore, strongly affected by the coffee crisis of the early 1990s. The unemployment rate in the region, for instance, was the highest in the country in the period 2001-2004. In 2008 the rate of unemployment was still at 16.6%, while underemployment accounted for another 33.8% of the active population. In 2006, the Gross Domestic Product per capita for the Department of El Quindío was just below $ 2.500.
Armed conflict is also present in some parts of the region.
The Department of El Quindío, therefore, suffers from severe problems of poverty and unemployment. This situation points to the necessity of changing the economic structure of the region, away from the coffee sector, and it is here where tourism may play an important role.