MADISON, Wis. — The World Council of Credit Unions has announced the dates for its 2008 Cooperative Learning Tours to Ecuador where participants can experience the credit union difference during week-long guided tours throughout the country.

The tours will run April 6-13 and Oct. 12-19. In addition to visiting multiple credit unions throughout Ecuador, tour members will participate in "think tank" sessions focused on membership growth, micro-entrepreneurial activities, managing remittances, rural community development, reaching out to Hispanic members and other pertinent credit union topics. Participants also will visit El Crater on the rim of the Pululahua Volcano, the historic districts of both Quito and Cuenca, the Mitad del Mundo Monument, located on the Earth's equator, and the Telef?(C)rico tram and view of Quito from high atop the Andes.

Cooperative Learning Tour participants pay $1,990 single or $1,790 per person for a shared room, which includes seven nights' accommodation in four- and five-star hotels, local transportation, most meals and admission to tourist venues scheduled as part of the tour. Participants are responsible for their own airfare to and from Quito, Ecuador's capital.