Characterization of Geoheritage and Geotourism Potential of the Fluvial-Glacial Landscapes in the Culebrillas Lagoon (Ecuador)

José Luis Sánchez-Cortez (), Kathleen Vélez-Macías, Vinicio Macas-Espinosa and Clelia Naranjo-Freire
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José Luis Sánchez-Cortez: Institute of Geography, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán 04510, Mexico
Kathleen Vélez-Macías: Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil 090601, Ecuador
Vinicio Macas-Espinosa: Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil 090601, Ecuador
Clelia Naranjo-Freire: Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Guayaquil, Guayaquil 090601, Ecuador

Tourism and Hospitality, 2023, vol. 4, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: Geotourism is a concept that is expanding rapidly throughout the world without exception, given its versatility to value the elements of geodiversity and geoheritage; landscape elements without an apparent use or benefit usually find in geotourism a window that can exploit unsuspected conditions. Culebrillas Lagoon, located in the southern center of the Ecuadorian Andes, represents a hydrographic unit of glacio–lacustrine origin as a typical hidden place that conceals a valuable geotourism potential. Culebrillas is marked by a series of fluvio–glacial morphologies, whose forms hide an important cultural heritage expressed in its festivities, myths, and legends which have been celebrated through the centuries. Inca and Cañari civilizations have been, in the past and present, the original groups that inhabited this sector, and important vestiges of their presence are still evident, as in the case of the Qhapaq Ñan or the Inca road system. The present investigation allowed the generating of information about elements of geoheritage and other related resources that have various potential uses, and which highlight the intrinsic values present in this area, complementing each other from a holistic socio–environmental and geotourism perspective.

Keywords: geotourism; geoheritage; Culebrillas Lagoon; fluvio–glacial landforms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Z3 Z30 Z31 Z32 Z33 Z38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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