METHODOLOGY PROPOSAL FOR THE ASSESMENT FEASIBILITY OF COMMUNITY TOURISM PROJECTS. Case: Huaorani, Achuar and Shiwiar communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Abstract

In Latin America, Ecuador has been seen as a pioneer in community tourism since the 80´s that has also become a strategic activity that acts as an engine in the local development, cultural exchange and sustainable and endogenous development.
Community tourism activity is a recent phenomenon and it has no tools to assess the feasibility of community tourism projects; as an academic contribution to the society we propose a methodology of evaluation to help stakeholders (private and public institutions, sociologists, NGOs social workers and the national government) make decisions in the community tourism.
The methodology’s result is an assessment model that has four components inherent to the tourism project that is necessary to evaluate: (1) socio – cultural, (2) economic – financial, (3) the environmental field and (4) tourism potential. We have identified indicators to evaluate the feasibility of carrying out the community tourism projects.