The Network of Experiential Palestinian Tourism Organizations (NEPTO) is an umbrella organization representing the interest of community based tourism development in Palestine. NEPTO has attempted to bring together all the organizations whose work is related or linked to the efforts of community based tourism advancement in Palestine and who work closely with and through the various communities all over Palestine.
NEPTO has 5 different departments all of which contribute to the overall picture of community based tourism in Palestine. These departments are: a. tourism advancement, festivals, fair trade and local production, wild life and environment and architectural heritage preservation. Our member organizations are involved in different areas that serve these departmental interventions and work collectively to advance a different approach to tourism, an approach that is concerned with the protection of Palestine’s resources, capacities, culture, heritage, environment and production as much as it is concerned in advancing the prosperity and empowerment of the local communities with particular emphasis on the more marginalized.
- NEPTO represents community based tourism in Palestine and abroad. Representatives of NEPTO attend the various tourism fairs, conventions and conferences in order to promote the activities of community based tourism in the Palestine with particular emphasis on the marginalized communities.
- NEPTO is a lobbying and advocacy tool for the interest of community based tourism in Palestine. It exerts as much effort as possible to lobby the various representatives of the public sector, particularly the ministry of tourism and antiquities in order to further the purpose of the local communities and the advancement of domestic and international tourism in their areas.
- NEPTO weaves a number of relevant partnerships with the private tourism sector as well as other civil society organizations working in culture, education and community development like youth clubs, women organizations and local producer groups, in order to open opportunities for the less known, yet historically and culturally rich destinations to find their rightful position on the Palestinian tourism map and in order to foster the competitiveness of the Palestinian national tourism product.
- NEPTO provides technical assistance and minor support for its weaker members particularly those directly serving their communities.
- NEPTO consolidates the activities, programs and events of its member organizations in one web portal for the discerning visitors to more easily find and locate what suits them best.
- NEPTO produces a webpage, a brochure and a booklet of all of its activities as well as all of its member organizations
- NEPTO organizes ad hoc conferences to promote the advancement of community based tourism and to foster Palestine’s global position in this respect.
