Proyecto de Desarrollo Turístico Sostenible del Complejo de Aguas Termales de la Comunidad Cunuyacu para mejorar la calidad de vida de sus habitantes

Abstract

A Project for Sustainable Tourism Development for the Cunuyacu Hot Springs Resort located in Ambato Village, Tungurahua Province was proposed. The resort has natural hot springs, the infrastructure is damaged, and it does not have the appropriate facilities to receive tourists. For this study, the tourists who visit the Fauna Production Reserve of Chimborazo were considered, because the Hot Springs Resort is articulated according to the activities carried out in this Reserve; 382 surveys were applied. The infrastructure situation and the architectural drawings design were determined, as a result it was considered to implement a restaurant, sauna, steam room, and hydromassage which are the tourist preferences; throughout a market study the trade name for the resort was proposed as “Termas Volcánicas de Cunuyacu” and the entry fee to the resort was set. The economic and financial studies indicated that the project is economically viable with an IRR (Internal Rate of Return) of 21, 16% with funding and 26, 30% without funding, taking 50% of unsatisfied demand. The project implementation does not aggressively affect the environment, or the culture of the community, according to the environmental impact and socioeconomic studies made through the Leopold Matrix. For the hypothesis verification the logic estimator Chi-square was applied which determined the hypothesis acceptance. Therefore, the implementation of the Sustainable Tourism Development Project is recommended, since it improves the quality of life of the community population and it is economically profitable.