Community tourism makes its way with local initiatives

Hiking trails, walks through natural attractions, gastronomy and crafts are, among others, the offers that associations and communities of the Sierra and Amazon region promote in their localities to attract tourists.

Community tourism makes its way with local initiatives

In December last year, authorities from the province of Tungurahua visited Guayaquil to promote its folk traditions, natural attractions and its gastronomy. They did it accompanied by a group of artisans who in turn showed the infinity of manufactured items.

Francisca Pillachango, official of the tourist area of ​​the Municipality of Píllaro , commented that the intention of this visit is that alliances between communities with authorities are interwoven so that in turn they facilitate the promotion of the historical and ancestral riches of the province of Tungurahua.

He highlighted, for example, the custom of guango-based yarn, which still exists in indigenous communities such as salaaca, pilahuín and chibuleo, where women are the ones who maintain the tradition and garments and garments of fine finishes are still made.

For the prefect of Tungurahua, Manuel Caizabanda, it is important to work together between authorities and communities to open the province to the rest of the country.

“In Tungurahua there are 4 villages (Quisapincha, Chibuleo, Tomabela and Pilahuín) and nationalities, each with its own identity that makes this sector diverse,” he said.

For this year they aim to strengthen tourism promotion, find new markets and attract more and more visitors, he said.

This initiative seeks to replicate in other sectors of the country. In Napo (Amazon region), for example, associations insist on union with decentralized autonomous governments, to make themselves known in the country.

Sonia Tapuy, leader of the Kichwa Tamia Yura Center, in Canton Tena, explained that they, on their own initiative,

they promote their products with the creation of points of attention for visitors, in order to improve their economies.

“Now we are concentrating on the activity called De la Chacra a la Mesa, which consists of offering our varied cuisine based on products that we grow in our chemical-free farms,” ​​he said.

Sowings of yu ca, banana, corn, cocoa, palm, fern, turmeric, culantro de monte, tutoyo (grass grown in the Amazon), are part of that organic production.

For her, the initiative has a handle because in the capital of Napo , the visitor usually consumes traditional meals in restaurants, so they as an association believe it is necessary to change the offer with products from their farms.

At the moment there are 15 active partners who offer tilapia, Creole chicken broth, maito, among other dishes. In addition, seasonally they offer chontacuro on skewers.

“We don’t have much support from authorities, but rather from NGOs; it is necessary for the public sector to join together and get closer to favor tourism, ”he concluded.

The same is the opinion of Edlita Tanguila, president of the Association of Artisanal Production of the Parish Cotundo, of the Canton Archidona (Napo).

This association is dedicated to the elaboration of crafts such as baskets, necklaces with mullos, fibers, toquilla straw and ceramics. We are 30 women we have in our store. “We work in our community, San Francisco , from 08:00 to 16:00, but sometimes we promote our crafts when the institutions invite us to fairs,” he said. He stressed that with a promotional campaign of the institutions, what they do, it can be known in the rest of the country, even more so when tourism decreases at this time because in winter the Papallacta-Quito route has problems.

https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/sociedad/6/turismo-comunitario-tungurahua-folclor