(Case Study)Beyond the Beans: Reimagining Travel Through Human Connection and Local Storytelling

Stefan Liautaud
May 30
3 min read

Updated: Aug 7

Client: De La Gente (DLG)

Agency: LiveFrom631

Project: Antigua Day Trip (Cooking & Coffee Tour Bundle) Launch

Location: Antigua, Guatemala & San Miguel Escobar

Learning the art of tortilla-making from a local expert — sharing laughs, culture, and tradition one fold at a time.

Overview

De La Gente is a nonprofit organization and coffee company based in Guatemala that partners with small-scale farmers to create economic opportunities through direct trade and community tourism. At its core, De La Gente works to empower coffee-growing communities by supporting sustainable farming practices and helping farmers gain access to global markets. Their tourism program complements this mission by offering immersive, locally-led experiences—like coffee farm tours, roasting workshops, and traditional cooking classes—that connect travelers directly with the people and processes behind Guatemalan coffee culture. Each experience not only provides valuable income for farmers and their families but also fosters deeper cultural understanding and more responsible, community-focused travel.

De La Gente partnered with us to launch their newest experience— The Antigua Day Trip: a Cooking & Coffee Tour Bundled Experience. Combining a cooking class with an immersive coffee farm tour, the new offering needed compelling visuals and a strategic marketing push to drive bookings and showcase the authentic cultural experience it offers. Our agency was brought in to develop and execute a creative strategy encompassing content creation, brand storytelling, and marketing assets designed to boost engagement across De La Gente’s website and social channels.

Strategy

Our strategic approach centered around authentic storytelling and immersive cultural connection. We aimed to create a visual narrative that:

Showcased the seamless transition from cooking to coffee tour
Highlighted hands-on participation with local farmers and cooks
Illustrated how each booking supports community empowerment
Delivered high-impact content to boost online engagement and increase tour bookings

We worked closely with DLG’s team to align on core messaging, target emotions (warmth, vibrancy, connection), and the ideal visual mood to represent the experience authentically.

Content Creation

To bring the vision to life, LiveFrom631 delivered:

Photography

Images capturing key touchpoints:
- Guests preparing traditional Guatemalan dishes
- Shared meals between visitors and local hosts
- Coffee harvesting, roasting, and tasting experiences
- Authentic, candid moments that celebrated cultural exchange

Marketing & Social Media Impact

The final photo assets were optimized for:

Website integration to enhance De La Gente’s booking page
Organic social media posts suitable for all social networks
Email marketing campaigns announcing the new bundle and use in

Our deliverables were crafted to be versatile and platform-ready, allowing De La Gente to roll out an integrated marketing campaign with consistent brand storytelling across all touchpoints.

IMPACT

Our partnership with De La Gente reflects a powerful shift in the travel industry toward purpose-driven, community-rooted experiences. In a landscape where 76% of global travelers seek meaningful connections with local cultures and 69% prioritize sustainability when planning trips (Booking.com, 2024), our work helped position De La Gente as a leader in authentic, impact-focused tourism. Much like Airbnb’s 2025 relaunch of its Experiences platform—which now features over 50,000 locally-hosted activities across 180 countries and emphasizes deeper host-guest relationships—we focused on elevating De La Gente beyond a traditional coffee cooperative.

Through immersive storytelling, guided experience development, and a human-centered brand strategy, we helped bring to life the personal stories of Guatemalan coffee farmers—turning each visit into a cultural exchange grounded in tradition, resilience, and pride. By bridging global curiosity with local authenticity, our collaboration proved that travel can be more than just exploration—it can be a tool for economic empowerment, sustainable development, and long-term community connection.

Services Provided: