History of the MATE Project

Based in Puerto Iguazú, Argentina, the MATE project was a collaboration between ITEC Iguazú (Technological Institute of Iguazú) and Niagara College.  With a focus on tourism training, the MATE project aimed to benefit at-risk groups (women and youth) who without training had little possibility of gaining employment in the tourism industry.

MATE had a number of primary and secondary partners who served on its Advisory Committee.  Consulting on this board were the provincial government of Misiones, private tourism companies, and educational institutions at the provincial and national levels. The inclusion of privately-owned tourism companies was based on the notion of corporate social and environmental responsibility towards communities in the Iguazú region.  Other governmental bodies, civil society organizations, professional associations, and community representatives were also members of the MATE Advisory Committee.   

MATE helped guide delivery of short-term tourism training courses designed to respond to specific industry labour needs. Part of this involved a process of “training the trainer” whereby ITEC teachers in Misiones province learned to use the ABC model (competency-based learning).

The first tourism training module, “Tourism and Service Excellence” was piloted to a group of 20 young men and women in Barrio Primavera in 2005.

The MATE project also assisted First Peoples communities in Misiones province.  For the first time ever, the Guaraní community of Yryapú willingly took part in a local development project. 

Indigenous cultural tourism (the development of tourism based on the history and heritage of indigenous peoples) was applied to the Mbya Guaraní people. This was accomplished through the creation of a centre which–along with short term training— drew primarily on ancestral wisdom and the participation of indigenous community leaders to develop environmentally-sustainable Mbya Guaraní cultural tourism in the province of Misiones.

TOP