In a continent that shares biodiversity, history and common challenges, it is urgent to think of tourism not only as an industry, but as a strategy for regenerative development. In this spirit, collaboration was born the Yuluca Alliance for Sustainable Tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean (AYLAC), where different organizations, networks and professionals have joined efforts to build a common regional agenda. One of the most important milestones has been the adaptation of the Logical Framework Approach, a traditional technical tool, which has been redesigned to make it clear, accessible and useful for all stakeholders. This task was facilitated by Regenera NGO, an organization that promotes sustainable and regenerative tourism processes in the region, which has put its methodological experience at the service of this collective effort. The result is more than a tool: it is a common basis for dreaming, planning and transforming tourism from a shared logic.
That is why today we are thrilled to share that Regenera NGO’s YouTube channel now features both the training videos and the specially adapted Google Sheets template on the Logical Framework Approach, designed to support AYLAC.
And what is so special about this adaptation? This version has been thought and organized to become the main tool that guides the elaboration of the Sustainable Tourism Agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean that is being developed in the Yuluca Alliance. Because if we share oceans, mountain ranges, an exorbitant fauna, the warmth of our people and even suffer from similar pains, how can we not share a methodology that allows us to organize ourselves as a region so that tourism is no longer just an industry and becomes a sustainable and regenerative development strategy?
1. And what is this about the Logical Framework Approach?
The Logical Framework Approach (yes, that name which sounds like a somewhat boring institutional title) is not new. It is a classic project planning tool that has been used in international cooperation programmes by major agencies such as the European Union, the United Nations and development banks. His superpower? Putting order in.
This methodology allows us to identify, organize and systematize all the elements of a project, from the problems we want to solve to the indicators that will tell us if we are doing well or if we need to adjust our course. It’s like the treasure map, but with fewer pirates, and in this case for AYLAC, more spreadsheets.
2. From Santa Marta to the entire Caribbean: a story of region
The recent history of this adaptation began in September 2024, when AYLAC was born. But like every great beginning, there was an epic prologue: the 1st GSTC Latin American and Caribbean Sustainable Tourism Summit , held in May 2024 in Santa Marta, Colombia.
Since then, the enthusiasm has been collective, spreading through the waters of both the Caribbean and the Pacific to encapsulate, with that aroma of tenacity of Latin Americans and Caribbeans, our entire region. What appeared to be a technical tool has become the structural soul of our collaborative work. Each meeting, subcommittee and discussion has shaped a shared vision. AYLAC and the Sustainable Tourism Agenda are being formalized and institutionalized with the hearts of those who want to transform tourism from within.
So far, we are well, right? But it’s time to get technical… let’s take a deep breath!
3. Formulas, spreadsheets and applied logic: the secret kitchen of our Matrix in Google Sheets
You can see the template here:
Here’s where Tatiana and Cristian come into play, tourism professionals and collaborators at Regenera NGO who act as gurus of data and formulas. With a spreadsheet as a sword and a clear methodological vision, they built from scratch the Google Sheets template that has been key for the three Development subcommittees of AYLAC to work in a standardized way and without losing the logical thread of the process.
The template has been structured in phases of the Logical Framework Approach:
❖ Identification of challenges and alternatives.
❖ Development of target trees.
❖ Analytical Structure of the Project.
❖ Planning with activities, components, indicators, means of verification and assumptions.
❖ Logic Framework Matrix.
And how did we make all this flow without our ideas getting tangled between spreadsheets? With formulas. And not just any formula, but those that allow the information to be automatically brought from one sheet to another in whatever format is necessary, so that each subcommittee can concentrate on what is important: thinking together and reaching consensus, without drowning in technicalities.
For example, we needed in the sheet of Identification of Alternatives only the media that were defined in the last level of the Target Tree sheet. This was made possible by the IF NON-EMPTY function which allows to teleport the contents of row 9 as an alternative if row 10 is empty.
Another example is that when someone defines an alternative in the Selection sheet, that alternative travels by itself to the Components sheet if it has been defined as the best evaluated. Or when filling the Target Tree sheet, the template helps reflect that same logic in some cells of the sheet containing the Project Analytics Structure without the need to copy and paste. All this, thanks to functions like TEXTJOIN, TRANSPOSE, ARRAYFORMULA, IFERROR, VLOOKUP, and some more tricks.
All this effort was made thinking that technical knowledge is not an obstacle, but a bridge. Because in AYLAC we have both the Executive Committee and the Development Committee made up of exceptional people, with real experience in tourism, from institutional to community, and what they needed was not to learn formulas, but to have a structure that would make it easier for them to contribute their vision, ideas and solutions.
Tourism as a collective dream: a region that plans together
With each advance, we feel prouder to belong to such a vibrant and resilient region. A region that, step by step, is learning to listen to itself, to take care of its traditions and nature, and to imagine a future where tourism is not a threat, but a tool for sustainable and regenerative territorial development.
Because if something has become clear to us with this process is that united, we are stronger, wiser and, why not say it, also more strategic.
Let’s continue forward, with methodology and heart for a Latin America and the Caribbean united as a region!
For all the above, at Regenera NGO we have a team that has made this adaptation possible with commitment, experience and collective vision:
• Tatiana Agudelo Monguí, data analyst and tourism professional, has led the technical design of the Google Sheets template that accompanies the methodology. Her experience in community tourism and her ability to translate complex processes into understandable and functional tools has been essential for the matrix to come alive and be accessible by AYLAC’s Development subcommittees.
• Cristián Carvajal Castillo, manager in tourism and culture, has been key in the conceptual design, combining participatory methodologies and territorial vision. His experience as a researcher has enabled the methodology not only to be understood, but also to be appropriated as a living instrument for regional strategic planning.
• Jorge Moller Rivas, Latin American leader of regenerative tourism, has provided his inspiring leadership so that this process never loses sight of its raison: Build a collaborative Sustainable Tourism Agenda that is as rigorous as it is transformative for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Authors:
Tatiana Agudelo Monguí – Data Analyst and Tourism Professional | https://www.linkedin.com/in/agudelotatiana/
Cristian Carvajal Castillo – Tourism and Culture Manager | https://www.linkedin.com/in/ccarvajalcastillo/
