Elaboración de un manual de buenas prácticas de sostenibilidad turística para tour operadores de la ciudad de Cuenca

Abstract

Today tourism operators show the steady deterioration of natural resources, capital assets and intangible characteristics based on the structure of the tourist products. At the same time a process of mitigation and awareness has been developed in order to address the impacts that tourism has had on the destinations, leading to the development of international treaties as well as environmental and tourist certificates. Worth mentioning as precursors brands with high impact on domestic tourism, are Smart Voyager and Rainforest Alliance.

The goal of this investigation was to create a voluntary good practice guide of easy fulfillment, motivating so local tour operators towards a more conscious and sustainable tourism, always taking into account that tourism operators based purely in Cuenca are small companies with lower budgets compared to operators working in the country's capital or the Galapagos.

After conducting a study of the structure of companies, the operative magnitude of the value chain and the individual impact of each operating point upon Cuenca’s tourist environment was determined.

After analyzing the turning points in the sustainability and the impact of the tourist activity a guide of good practice for tour operators in Cuenca was developed, based on the normative references mentioned before. The guide contains concrete actions, adapted to their model of operation, easy to enforce and evaluate, and thus comply with each pillar of sustainable tourism.