This work was carried out from July to December 2010 within the framework of the agreement signed between the Illustrious Municipality of the Santa Elena canton and the Santa Elena Peninsula State University, applying a research model that, in addition to providing quantitative information, qualitatively expresses the reality of the object of study. It was attended by managers and teachers from the tourism area of the university, university students and the community college. The ultimate purpose of the project is to identify the main causes that negatively condition the tourist development of the SanPablo commune.
Introduction
The effort developed by the local tourism authorities has been directed to a greater extent to the training of the human factor in multiple tourism issues, which, in the absence of an effective follow-up and monitoring program, almost always do not yield the expected results. In this sense, the Santa Elena Peninsula State University Campus Manglaralto, through its tourism area teachers, sent a research project to the Tourism Department of the Municipality of Santa Elena where it is proposed, prior to the execution of training workshops, to initiate a diagnostic process that allows identifying the main needs and weaknesses of the community.
The Illustrious Municipality of Santa Elena and its tourism department analyzed the proposal and decided to launch the project called SITUATIONAL TOURIST DIAGNOSIS OF THE SAN PABLO COMMUNITY FOR THE SUSTAINABLE USE OF ITS RESOURCES.
Analysis and description of the problem.- The San Pablo Commune, belongs to the Santa Elena canton, province of the same name, has been developing tourist activity for 9 years taking advantage of the beautiful natural landscape offered by its more than 10 linear kilometers of beach, the same that allows settlement from a series of "restaurant cabins" stationed at the foot of the highway from South to North where typical and special dishes are offered, mostly prepared with local ingredients.
It initiates tourist activities in 2001 with the impulse of PRODECOS (Ecotourism Development Project) who trained the inhabitants to start as tourist servers in order to find new employment alternatives. They were grouped into what became known as the "San Pablo Tourism Committee" attached to the "San Pablo Civic Board". Despite the assistance provided, the inhabitants of the community who took the initiative and those who came from other places took advantage of a single attraction (the beach) which, until then, was not registered, inventoried, categorized and less hierarchical, dispensing with others natural as well as cultural, also without proper planning the process of tourist transformationIt followed a vertical direction, leaving the definition of attractions as a complementary part, taking the promotion and dissemination of the destination as a priority.
If we add to this problem the lack of an investigative support that has served as a preliminary diagnosis and starting point, guiding since then in an optimal way the efforts of the organizations involved in equipping the destination with complementary services such as elements of infrastructure, services basic, supportive and above all that allow the strengthening of an appropriate value chain that guarantees high social profitability with a positive long-term impact, of course under the criteria and principles of sustainability.
All this leads to the fact that today the community of San Pablo presents a tourist image that is not very competitive, where there is no complete and well-defined tourism product with a very limited offer of alternative activities where only the gastronomic factor stands out as the main element, sufficient reasons in order to predict that in the future it will be considered by tourists only as a place of passage and not as a tourist destination that receives visitors.
Faced with this, the following problematic question can be asked : To what extent does the lack of a process of tourist transformation in the community of San Pablo affect the formation of an uncompetitive image of the destination with a value chain incapable of offering employment alternatives that to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants?
Justification.- The purpose is to develop an investigative process that highlights the social, economic and tourist reality of the community and that responds to the real needs of the sector's problems, guiding the process of social, economic and therefore tourist development of the location.
These results will contribute to drawing up a strategic development plan capable of generating an adequate diversification of the tourist offer, which will undoubtedly increase the flow of visitors to the place, allowing prior planning to include complementary services, promoting the creation of a value chain. that contributes to the San Pablo commune being considered a competitive tourist destination.
Overall objective
Determine the dysfunctional situations in the community of San Pablo through the development of a qualitative-quantitative research process that provides the basic information necessary for more relevant decision-making, contributing to the process of tourism transformation in the sector.
Theoretical framework and technical analysis
In this sense, it has been considered important to review the functions of Higher Education in Ecuador, the tourism research project promoted by UPSE through its Manglaralto Campus, the objectives of the National Plan for Good Living, programs and projects of PLANDETUR 2020, among which the following will be mentioned:
One of the main functions of the Ecuadorian University: Scientific research. The following objectives of the National Plan for Good Living: Objective 3. Increase the population's hope and quality of life. Objective 6. Guarantee stable, fair and decent work. The following axis and project of PLANDETUR 2020: Axis 1.5. Strategic Information System for Tourism of Ecuador (SEVEN); in section 1.5.4 Creation of a tourist observatory system by destination.
It is aligned to the objectives of the Ecuadorian Strategic Tourism Information System (SEVEN) program: Establish a Strategic Information System for Ecuadorian Tourism that serves as a key planning tool for the sustainable tourism development of the country. Improve the capacity for sustainable tourism management and development based on a body of strategic and operational information for decision-making. Design and implement specific tourism studies from the perspective of supply, demand and distribution channels.
Applied investigative methodology
Research modality. This research process is based on the criteria of qualitative research processes, without neglecting the important contributions made by quantitative research. In contrast, the research modality will be guided by the qualitative-quantitative research guidelines. This model, in addition to obtaining results that numerically reflect the state of a certain phenomenon, goes deeper into obtaining qualitative data that allows for the issuance of much more objective criteria, evaluating and not qualifying a fact. The types of research applied are: Bibliographic research.- It was used for the collection of documentary data, in bibliographic consultations, in data provided by written material,referring to the reality that will be the object of study, of course, duly commented, analyzed and interpreted.
Field research.- The field research model was applied especially in the data collection phase, this type of research was carried out in the place and real time in which the phenomena under study occurred, techniques and instruments were combined specific such as interviews, observations, questionnaires, among others.
Descriptive research.- It was used to describe the structure of phenomena and their dynamics, basically using quantitative techniques such as observational studies and content analysis. In observational studies, data collection was based on the behavior record of what was observed. The methods used in the project are:
Inductive method.- It goes from the particular to the general, it is used from several observed cases, it will seek to obtain a general conclusion which will also be valid for the cases that were observed. This method is based on the law of causality.
Deductive method.- Part of the general to the particular, it is used by presenting various concepts, principles or definitions, drawing their conclusions or consequences in which part of the previously established truths are applied as a general principle, and then applying them to individual cases, checking their validity. The deduction starts from a principle or premise and has a universal character.
Analytical method.- This method helps to decompose the problem into its parts until its elements are known. Each of the difficulties will be divided into as many parts as possible and convenient to solve them better.
Descriptive method.- It will be used in the description of the facts or phenomena located in the present time, it will allow to collect and tabulate the data and then analyze and interpret them in an impartial way.
The following research techniques were applied: Surveys, Interviews, Observation Sheets, Neighborhood Workshops.
Population and Sample
Local population.- To determine the sample size of the resident population in the community of San Pablo, the total number of inhabitants of the community has been considered as universe, for which information was collected in the archives of the communal house.
The number of inhabitants of the commune is approximately 8000 inhabitants, with a margin of error of 0.5%. The sample size is 380 surveys.
Visitors.- The surveys were carried out within the community to visitors and aimed at knowing the level of satisfaction regarding the products or services offered in the San Pablo Commune. To carry out this work, the number of tourists who visited the destination during Easter was taken as a base, specifically on Friday 2, Saturday 3, Sunday 4 April of this year. Therefore, after applying the corresponding formula, it was determined that it is 373 surveys.
Results of surveys of the local population
53% of those surveyed are engaged in fishing, 31% are engaged in various activities as employees in places other than the community, 13% are engaged in trade within, and 3% are engaged in tourism.
64% maintain that their monthly income is in the range of $ 100 to $ 200, while 12% of the sample limited themselves to not answering, 11% receive income less than $ 100, 10% answered that their monthly income is between $ 200 - 300 2% of the surveyed inhabitants earn more than $ 400.
44% of the respondents stated that they supply themselves with vital liquid through the local network, 42% provide this service through the interconnected network, 12% request the service through tankers and 2% simply did not answer.
50% of those surveyed have a septic tank and only 24% answered having this service through public networks, 26% have a latrine and a septic tank.
Visitor survey results
45% of visitors to the community come from the province of Santa Elena and 35% of those surveyed come from the city of Guayaquil, which means that a smaller percentage comes from Quito and Cuenca.
35% answered that they are employees and that they have income that allows them to visit various sectors, 34% of the visitors correspond to the student segment who, in addition to studying, have a job that allows them to enjoy the beaches and cabins of San Pablo, a 31% corresponds to tourists who work independently or micro-entrepreneurs.
38% of the respondents chose more than one option when asked about their preference for some special attraction of the town: the sea and the beach, the cabins, its people, among others, 28% answered that they are attracted to the sea and the beach, 21% said they like the warmth of its people, the rest said that it attracts the cabins, the church and the peculiarities of the community.
59% answered that the attention received in the food cabins is very good, 38% said that it is excellent, and 79% of the respondents answered that the attention received in the craft stalls is very good.
Visitors to the San Pablo beach were consulted regarding a list of services and activities that could be carried out, 59% responded that they want to practice various activities combined with nature, gastronomy and its extensive beach, not ruling out 41% consider that other activities such as banana rides, jet skis, horse rides, boat rides, among others, could be added.
Asked about the places or attractions, in addition to the beach, which they know or have visited, 63% answered not knowing any other place, 27% said they knew the salt pools on the side of the road and 8% the estuary on which the bridge rises. It was also consulted about the most widespread cultural attractions and that more than knowing them they have participated in them, 58% answered that they do not know or have not participated in them, 26% that they know about the patron saint festivities, and 16% said that knows its history and its folklore.
Regarding their accommodation preferences, 29% answered that they prefer the rustic environment, 23% family type, according to nature, 17%, however, 25% maintain that they prefer a hotel as the appropriate place to stay.
When asked about the state of the internal and external roads, more than 50% of those surveyed maintain that the roads are in very good condition. When asked about the quality of basic services provided in the community, 52% believe they are good, 23% say they are very good, and 13% say they are bad.
Summary of interviews with the actors involved
The San Pablo commune is a tourist destination that has grown from taking advantage of a unique natural attraction to which the gastronomic element has been added as an image factor and positioning strategy, lacking essential constituent elements such as equipment and infrastructure that allow it catalog it as a whole as a tourist product.
The San Pablo commune, as a tourist destination, is perceived by tourists and people who visit it as a welcoming and innovative site, which must be provided with secondary tourist activities, as well as strengthen it with the inclusion of basic and complementary services that allow greater enjoyment and comfort at the time of the visit.
There are in the surroundings of the community a series of sites with sufficient striking features and qualities that allow a diverse tourist use, capable of generating a certain degree of attraction for visitors.
The quality of the basic services of the San Pablo commune is below what is considered normal, represented by the reduced coverage and difficulty of access to the vast majority of the inhabitants, negatively influencing the local image, health of its inhabitants and quality of life. of the inhabitants.
A high percentage of the inhabitants of the commune do not feel identified with the tourist activity developed in the place, on the contrary they feel without greater opportunities for participation, diminishing the sense of belonging to their locality.
This percentage of inhabitants feels that there has been no predisposition of their representatives and the authorities of the sector to create the spaces and opportunities necessary for a high percentage of the inhabitants of the town to participate in tourism activities and venture into businesses, allowing them to improve the quality of life of their homes.
There is a serious problem of environmental contamination in the community, one caused by the treatment plant located in the vicinity of the Ríos Guayas sector and another caused in the river sector, in both cases the levels of contamination are high, causing serious damage to the health of the inhabitants of the population.
The community of San Pablo is affected by the little union reflected among its inhabitants, which is promoted by political tendencies confronted with each other, generating negative effects, delaying social and economic development in the commune.
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