Diagnóstico de la sostenibilidad de las agencias de viajes operadoras de Cuenca: SLT TOURS, DEEP Ecuador Travel y Altitud Ecuador mediante los criterios de Global Sustainable Tourism Council, 2019

Abstract

In Ecuador, the issue of sustainability is the process of development, and in the area of tourism there have been small yet important advances. However, tourism sustainability has focused on the gastronomic and hotel areas, without paying much attention to tourism intermediaries. These are responsible for a large part of the country’s tourist flow, leaving different impacts on the destinations where they operate. The purpose of this research is to diagnose the level of sustainability in three travel agencies operating in the city of Cuenca, Ecuador. For that, criteria have been taken from the Global Sustainable Tourism Council for Tour Operators, which, once being adapted to the local reality, yield a total of 140 variables to study. Figures were obtained by applying criteria in three approaches: an insight of the agencies, and two in flied trips to destinations: Ingapirca Archeological Complex and El Cajas National Park. Once the results were obtained, the analysis was performed by using statistical tool of conglomerates, which helped in categorizing. In this way, the results were analyzed from a micro to macro approach, from the individual to the collective. Once this analysis was obtained, an improvement plan was elaborated through the weight factors method, allowing to identify the points that the agencies should pay more attention, and finally, it includes actions to be undertaken to comply with these points.