Food Tourism in Indigenous Settings as a Strategy of Sustainable Development: The Case of Ilex guayusa Loes. in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Katia Laura Sidali, Pascual Yépez Morocho and Edgardo I. Garrido-Pérez
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Katia Laura Sidali: Ikiam Universidad Regional Amazónica, Via a Muyuna, Tena 150150, Ecuador
Pascual Yépez Morocho: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Avenida 10 de Agosto y Carrion, Quito 170517, Ecuador
Edgardo I. Garrido-Pérez: Ikiam Universidad Regional Amazónica, Via a Muyuna, Tena 150150, Ecuador

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 10, 1-17

Abstract: This paper seeks to contribute to the discussion on how to enhance food tourism in emerging, tropical countries characterized by a large number of indigenous groups and a high biodiversity. A sacred plant for the Kichwa indigenous communities labelled Ilex guayusa Loes. (Aquifoliceae) is used as a case study. Twelve recorded interviews with different stakeholders of the Amazon region of Napo in Ecuador were analysed. The results of this qualitative research show that the Western-based theory on niche tourism based on experiential and intimacy theory is compatible with four principles which are related to the cosmovision (worldview) of Kichwa indigenous groups, namely: mutual learning, empowerment, regulated access to intellectual property and community legislation. The framework proposed seems suitable to understand food tourism in an indigenous setting. Furthermore, the integration of Western-based food tourism with an indigenous cosmovision might contribute to a more sustainable land use and more equitable social development.

Keywords: food tourism; indigenous communities; ancestral knowledge; guayusa; biodiversity; Kichwa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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