Diversification of tourism through cultural routes in Manglaralto county, in the province of Santa Elena

Abstract

The work was carried out in the Manglaralto parish in the province of Santa Elena, with the objective of generating new cultural tourism routes within the framework of sustainability and diversification of Santa Elena’s offer, as an alternative to complement the positioning of sun and beach tourism affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The methodology implemented is based on the georeferencing and mapping of resources throughout the parish, supported by the ArcGis program, and then ranking them by applying the nine evaluation criteria established by the Ministry of Tourism of Ecuador. As a result, 163 attractions were evaluated, which were used to propose the design of three cultural tourism routes, proposals that were socialized with local authorities, the Manglaralto Parish Government, the Santa Elena Municipal Tourism Company and Tourism Management and Promotion Office in the province.