Happy First Quarter everybody! That's 25% of the year down and 75% to go - which of course means there is a lot more year to go in terms of working hard to build the ecoBANK project into existence.
And now you all know how long I have been working on this post. Its not for lack of effort on the ECOBANK front that I have not published more posts about this project - there are quite a few updates in this post so read on to find out!
We really need a logo. I have talked to a graphic designer locally, but very little progress has been made. @ecoinstante drew this during one of our discussions:
So there is definitely a lot of branding work to do moving into Q2.
In the meantime, we have made great progress on the 'Tourist Information Point' data base, creating the building blocks for us to create packages for visiting tourists to the resort, taking advantage of all that the local area has to offer.
Check out some of these photographic reports from our agent on the ground!
These are being published securely on the @quintaesencia account using the Dreamr application.
Honda, Tolima
BALNEARIO EL PLAYÓN EN CASCADAS DE PADILLA
Hotel Campestre El Mirador
Piqueteadero Los Alpes
Finca La Fortuna - Chocolatera Organica
Corregimiento de CONVENIO
Reserva Natural Cascadas de Padilla
Finca la Vibora - Vereda La Tigera
Centro Recreativo El Lago
Casa Cubarro
Murillo, Tolima
Camino Viejo ***
And this is just getting started. This will likely be our most profitable activity getting off the ground: Connecting the disparate local attractions into coherent packages to sell to interested travelers. Almost surprising that almost no one does this yet locally, and those that do, don't do it very well for various reasons.
And that brings us into an important point to talk about: A new option to get started faster:
Buy a already operating hotel!
We have the opportunity to make a midcourse correction here, and I want to present it to all of you and get your feedback.
We can buy into an already operating hotel, called Camino Viejo.
We would still have the same land, and would still intend to build out our own hotel, over time. Currently, the legal paperwork processes are going much slower than I anticipated, and here we have been presented with an opportunity to hit the ground running, get some cash flow moving, and gain valuable experience right away.
Here is an article I wrote about Camino Viejo last year:
Camino Viejo has 13 rooms with space for 28 persons, a working restaurant as well as fish pond, pool, lake and sauna. It also has a rich history, branding and some local good will. Its been operating and expanding infrastructure since 2015 in its current form.
It also has a camping area fit for up to 25 tents, which makes it very flexible in receiving different types of tourists. It has hot water in the showers and wifi internet.
I am working on getting a full write up of inventory and pricing so we can make some cashflow estimates. But I see a lot of benefits from the experience we can gain by starting to operate touristically from the start.
Three options if we chose this path
If we buy into this hotel there are basically three options:
- We continue to operate it and build out the new hotel with cash flow.
- We distribute cashflow profits to token holders and issue more tokens at a later date and higher price to build our own hotel.
- We sell Camino Viejo at some point for a profit and reinvest the capital into building our own hotel.
The key for me is that we still plan to build our own hotel, on our own land, which is perfectly situated to provide a great service and experience. Camino Viejo does come with land, and a good location on a main road, but it is a much smaller space with only 4 acres.
We are still negotiating some of the prices, but it seems like we could buy into half ownership of this working rural hospitality business for about 125,000 USD including paperwork. This would be a boon to the place because it would consolidate ownership between us and the active partner, a Sr. Hernando.
And hit the ground running...
I have talked to some potential investors, so far I think this is a positive development for us, assuming everything works out in the negotiations, but I want to hear from those who have already invested. If we decide to make this change, anyone who has invested up to this point will have the opportunity for their money back if they don't like the change. But I would urge you to share your feedback in the comments.
Here is the Investor list so far:
Here is the list from last time:
snook - 250.000 HBD - 227.273 tokens
tokenizedsociety - 220 HBD - 200 tokens
papacrusher - 90 HBD, 300 SWAP.HBD - 354.545 tokens
teenagecrypto - 1.3 SWAP.HBD - 1.181 tokens
newigennity - 275 HBD - 250 tokens
tokenpimp - 275 HBD - 250 tokens
weirdestwolf - 153.190 HBD - 139.263 tokens
thehive - 110 HBD - 100 tokens
flipflopcrypto - 8 HBD - 7.272 tokens
votebetting - 20 HBD - 18.181 tokens
lammbock - 11 HBD - 10 tokens
totals of 1557.715 tokens / 1713,49 HBD
And here are the new entries since February 2 👀😲 wow how times flies
stortebeker 100 hbd + 500 hbd + 500 HBD = 1000 tokens
gamsam 58 hbd + 41 HBD = 90 tokens
ironshield 110 hbd = 100 tokens
hellene8 5.888 HBD = 5.352 tokens
khan.dayyanz 5.5 HBD = 5 tokens
papa crusher 11.597 HBD = another 10.542 tokens
stickupcash 20 HBD = 18.181 tokens
manoldonchev 4.800 HBD + 4.8 HBD + 2.4 HBD = 10.909 tokens
onewolfe 6.746 HBD = 6.132 tokens
teenagecrypto 8.984 HBD = 8.167 tokens
braaiboy 122 HBD = 110.909 tokens
jfang003 110 HBD = 100 tokens
preparedwombat 11 HBD = 10 tokens
totals of 1475.192 tokens / 1622.715 HBD
for a grand total of 3032,907 tokens sold and 3336,205 HBD collected.
How I see this
As I wrote about in the most recent update March 7th, I am courting BSC investors to get into this project. I will be doing an AMA as soon as possible, it was only awaiting this update.
Those who have already invested, are in. You are in with me in this land backed project wherever it leads. But as long as the presale is open, and if the idea does change, you'll be able to get your money back before we close on the final deal, if you don't like it. I appreciate each and every one of you coming along with me for the ride.
Please give your feedback on the idea of: