José Lázaro Quintero Santos, Francisco Javier Mena Galárraga, Luz Ximena Aguirre Ulloa

(Faculty of Hospitality and Services, Universidad Tecnológica Equinoccial)

 

 

Abstract: This paper aims to examine community based tourism in Yunguilla community. The study evaluates the waysin which community members are involved in community based tourism in Yunguilla, both at the individual and the community level. Community based tourism (CBT) is a process in which tourism is used as a tool for community development and the participation of the local people is necessary to prepare and build the capacity of the host community to manage tourism. This process occurs through increased importance of natural resources conservation and of protecting the environment associated to community based tourism into the concept of responsible tourism. Recent work in the field of community based tourism has shown that conservation and protected areas are key elements to develop community based tourism, closely linked to sustainable tourism development through community participant in decision-making process (Vikneswaran & Amran, 2015). A critical factor for success in community based tourism includes an understanding and acceptance by all members of local communities that their community share its environment and its way of life with visitors and also that communities incur costs when they engage in community based tourism (positive and negative impacts on destinations). Using a case study of Yunguilla community this paper contributes to the understanding of community participation in tourism development by examining local communities’ views on their role in community development. The data for this study were collected from community leaders and local residents who engaged in tourism activities. The study included participant observation, household surveys and key informant interviews. The methodological process involved a review of the literature on community based tourism as well as tourism development, community participation and barriers of community capacity building. The results showed that: (1) community based tourism in Yunguilla can be divided into six categories; (2) Yunguilla community works as interdependent family teams and (3) there are some barriers to community based tourism that must be faced.