Tourism and Sustainable Development in Ecuador: A Regional Analysis

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-868-4_29How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Sustainable tourism; Territorial development; Socioeconomic indicators; Community participation

Abstract

The transition toward a sustainable development model in Ecuador positions tourism as a key sector for economic diversification, reduction of regional inequalities, and promotion of social inclusion. This study assesses the contribution of tourism to sustainable development from a territorial and multidimensional perspective, integrating economic, social, and environmental dimensions. A mixed-methods, multilevel research design was employed, combining quantitative analysis of official indicators with qualitative case studies in communities across the Sierra, Coast, Amazon, and Galápagos regions. Findings show that Galápagos leads in tourist spending and job creation, while the Sierra region attracts the highest number of visitors. Tourism investment in 2024 demonstrated strong public-private coordination, with provinces such as Tungurahua and Pichincha standing out. Community-based tourism, characterized by high levels of local participation, has generated both economic and social benefits, although it continues to face challenges such as labor informality and environmental pressure. The study concludes that advancing sustainable tourism in Ecuador requires regionally tailored policies, stronger institutional frameworks, and collaborative governance mechanisms to ensure equitable and environmentally responsible development.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Christopher Lopez-Samaniego
AU  - Aracelly Núñez-Naranjo
AU  - Tania Morales-Molina
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/10/22
TI  - Tourism and Sustainable Development in Ecuador: A Regional Analysis
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Communication and Applied Technologies 2025 (ICOMTA 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 313
EP  - 326
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-868-4_29
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-868-4_29
ID  - Lopez-Samaniego2025
ER  -