Análisis del empoderamiento y participación comunitaria en comunidades rurales que apuestan por el turismo como medio de desarrollo. caso estudio: comunidad Migüir. Azuay, Ecuador

Abstract

This study analyzes the factors of empowerment and community participation of rural communities in sustainable development processes through tourism. It starts from the needs of the communities to strengthen the factors of empowerment and mechanisms of participation, considering that tourism has become an important activity to achieve their income. However, it has certain weaknesses in the redistribution of its income derived from problems linked to social aspects. The project takes as a case study the community of Migüir located in the buffer zone of the Cajas National Park which belongs to the parish of Molleturo, canton Cuenca, province of Azuay in Ecuador. The research approach is qualitative of exploratory scope. As a first point, a mapping of the tourism actors will be carried out and semi-structured interviews will be carried out with the main stakeholders of the community in question. The study shows that the main limitation for empowerment is the lack of involvement and support in communities by the public sector. In addition, it shows how tourism activities tend to be downplayed in rural areas, making known the complexity that exists when it comes to organization in tourism issues. It is also made known how community participation could improve the organization between actors, empowering communities that bet on tourism. Keywords: tourism, empowerment, sustainable development, community participation, Migüir Community