Ecotourism and influencing factors in the tourist experience during excursions in natural areas: Laguna del Quilotoa

Abstract

Introduction. The UNWTO definition regarding the term “ecotourism”, involves all forms of tourism that allow the enjoyment of the landscape richness, but at the same time, there is awareness and minimize the ecological footprint of the tourist. Objective. To analyze the factors that affect the tourist experience in the natural resource called Laguna del Quilotoa, which has a great acceptance of landscape beauty and is part of the tourist attractions of the Los Ilinizas Ecological Reserve, located in the Zumbahua. Methodology. The research was based on a review of statistical data obtained from the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of the Environment, Central Bank of Ecuador, in order to highlight the relevance of tourism in the country, and of course, the number of visitors to the Los Ilinizas Ecological Reserve. Thus, the bibliographic review of scientific articles was carried out. Conclusion. The analysis of the factors that affect the tourist experience has led to the generation of tourism products being approached from 2 approaches that the tourist seeks, covering their basic needs, the need to travel, simply changing their environment, and, the second approach that is necessary to stop to analyze on the emotions of the tourist, as if it were a life of extraordinary floating and thus generate a comprehensive tourist experience. It is imperative that tourism managers objectively manage the reality of the product if it is under development or is a developed product, and ensure the quality of the tourism product, since the imagery of tourism managers may differ from visitors This aspect is important to open up new panoramas of attraction for visitors.