Methodological proposal for designing ecotourism experiences: The case of Puyehue municipality, Los Lagos Region, Chile.

Resumen

The research focuses on the creation of a methodological proposal for the design of ecotourism experiences considering three stages of development: market research, analysis with a sustainable approach and design of ecotourism experiences.  The focus of this model will be to develop a balance between the experiential needs of tourists, ecotourism activities and sustainable development in a tourist destination. The destination must be comprehensively understood in terms of tourism to achieve a participatory co-creation with the local community of ecotourism experiences, in which they become the main actors in the execution of these experiences. The application of this proposal was developed in the municipality of Puyehue, Los Lagos Region, Chile. In this territory, its tourism system was identified and analyzed, including the sustainable development of its activities, attractions, and tourist accommodations, where innovative ecotourism experiences that reflect the image of the destination and the target tourist of Puyehue can be located. This methodological proposal for the design of ecotourism experiences supports sustainable tourism development in those destinations that have a set of appropriate resources that are currently poorly managed and marketed, thus losing their competitiveness.