http://dx.doi.org/10.35381/r.k.v5i10.717
Estrategias de emprendimiento para el turismo comunitario
Entrepreneurship strategies for community tourism
Bárbara Annabelle Pesántez-Célleri
barbara.pesantez@psg.ucacue.edu.ec
Universidad Católica de Cuenca, Cuenca
Ecuador
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6337-905X
Juan Carlos Erazo-Álvarez
Universidad Católica de Cuenca, Cuenca
Ecuador
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6480-2270
Cecilia Ivonne Narváez-Zurita
Universidad Católica de Cuenca, Cuenca
Ecuador
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7437-9880
Verónica Paulina Moreno
Universidad Católica de Cuenca, Cuenca
Ecuador
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1517-6124
Recibido: 20 de marzo de 2020
Revisado: 11 de abril de 2020
Aprobado: 07 de mayo de 2020
Publicado: 19 de mayo de 2020
ABSTRACT
The objective of the research was to design community tourism entrepreneurship strategies to strengthen the socio-economic development of Villamil beach’s inhabitants. The applied methodology was descriptive and non-experimental. From the results obtained, community tourism is developed empirically so it seeks to promote strategic entrepreneurship in the Canton society. It is necessary to consider the development of strategic ventures in Villamil beaches of the Canton population to enhance their socio-economic level with the innovation of products and services attractive to tourists.
Descriptors: Community development; development strategy; tourism; informal economy. (Words taken from the UNESCO Thesaurus).
INTRODUCTION
According to (National Institute of Statistics and Censuses, 2019) in the month of December 2019, the socio-economic development of Ecuador was 25.0% at the level of poverty, and 8.9 % with respect to extreme poverty. It meant that a poor person received a monthly income of less than USD 84.82 and the ones with extreme poverty received less than USD 47.80. Likewise, poverty represented 11.20% in Guayaquil, 8.2% in Quito and 4.10% in Cuenca. In relation to extreme poverty, Guayaquil was represented with 1.4%, Quito with 2.8% and Cuenca with 0.6%.
The province of Guayas and the large cities with greater number of companies are the maximum contributor to the economy in Ecuador, since they have several organizations already established that handle trade, especially, the port of Guayas. With this premise, in the cantons that are located on the outskirts of this province have a slow growth, since they are small places that only focus on rivalry and not in their progress, a situation that causes failure in their businesses (Silva, Flores, Montalván & Alejo, 2018).
In ‘Playas Villamil’ Canton, the economic activities that stand out are fishing, tourism, and commerce as sources of income that support the economic development of the population, Therefore, with the advantage of having a greater proximity to the province of Guayas, the visit of tourists is constant. On the basis of the ideas presented, it is important to strengthen community tourism in order to benefit the environment that surrounds them and its inhabitants’ actions to help them achieve the execution of purposes previously established.
Based on the aforementioned, the significant contribution of this research is directly linked to the 2017-2021 National Development Plan for a lifetime, Art. 4.3 which indicates “to encourage credit and services for the population in the national financial system for sustainable development, solidarity and equality”. National Secretariat for Planning and Development (SENPLADES, 2017, p.79).
Within this framework, the problem evidenced in these places is the lack of strategic entrepreneurship, which has caused weaknesses in the communities for managing and mantaining businesses with effective attention to satisfy the tourist's need. It leads tourists to choose other beaches on the Ecuadorian coast. Given this reality, the question arises: How to strengthen the socio-economic development of the inhabitants of ‘Playas Villamil’ Canton?.
Therefore, by showing this problem, the objective of the research is to design community tourism entrepreneurship strategies to strengthen the socio-economic development of the inhabitants of ‘Playas Villamil’ Canton.
METHOD
This research was based on a non-experimental descriptive typology, represented by the analysis of the object of study (Hernández, Fernández & Baptista, 2014). Likewise, it relied on the analytical-synthetic method by which entrepreneurship strategies were studied (Argudo-Tello, Erazo-Álvarez, & Narváez-Zurita, 2019).
In addition, the survey was applied as an information gathering technique, by means of a questionnaire to collect data that later contribute to the purpose of analyzing the behavior of the variables.
Consequently, the survey was directed to the inhabitants of ‘Playas Villamil’ Canton.
RESULTS
Through the application of the research instruments that determined the problem, the following results were obtained: in relation to community tourism, 51% of the population of ‘Playas Villamil’ Canton considered that community tourism was developed on a regular basis, meanwhile a 49% stated that they had a good development of community tourism; at the same time, the population considered pertinent their inclination towards businesses with community entrepreneurship, specifically, in hotels in an average of 61%; however, 38% were more inclined towards commerce, artisanal fishing and agricultural activities.
Regarding the economic and labor situation of the inhabitants in the Canton, 49% was divided between unemployed people, students, retirees and housewives, which indicated that they did not have an established activity to start a community entrepreneurship business; while 33% of them were part of the group of employees belonging to companies or businesses in the Canton; finally, a percentage of 18% had their own business in various activities within the Canton.
74.19% of the inhabitants of the Canton stated that they had knowledge and skills from experience to create a community tourism business and 25.81% of them considered that they lacked of it. 58% of the inhabitants stated that successful businessmen or entrepreneurs were recognized in the Canton for the quality of effort and work, 42% maintained that entrepreneurs did not have this motivation. 53.60% of the inhabitants considered that their needs were taken into account for the creation of a business, and 46.4% affirmed that they were not.
Likewise, 82% of them estimated that to undertake community tourism, it was important to have technical knowledge about entrepreneurship, but 18% did not consider it necessary. 67% of the population indicated that the infrastructure favored them to undertake, and 33% stated that they did not consider it necessary. 88% of the inhabitants considered that tourists sought innovative and good products and services, meanwhile 12% were unaware of the innovative products and services that they offered to tourists.
PROPOSAL
In this proposal, central elements are disclosed for the development of the area; these are: Diagnosis where the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats of the Canton are stated, competitive advantages are defined, target audience segmentation, definition of objectives and strategy formulation.
Analysis of the current situation
At this point, the weaknesses, threats, strengths and opportunities of the Canton are detailed below:
As weaknesses stood out: weak technical knowledge to undertake, restricted capital, little motivation for success. As a threat, competition, insecurity and the country's economy stand out.
In the same way, the EFI Matrix is used "This tool for formulating strategies synthesizes and assesses the most important strengths and weaknesses found in the functional areas of a company and also constitutes the basis for identifying and evaluating the relationships between these areas" (Fred, 2013, p.122). It details the strengths and weaknesses of the current situation in the Canton. In this sense, it is observed that the rating is 2.70, which means that by having a higher rating in strengths, the Canton is in a position to overcome weaknesses.
Similarly, the calculation using the EFE matrix stands out: "External audits reveal the key opportunities and threats faced by the company, allowing managers to formulate strategies to take advantage of those opportunities and avoid or reduce the impact of those threats" (Fred, 2013, p.68). The external factors are described to know the weight in number and percentage, either individual or general, in which through an analysis, a global rating of 3.04 is obtained. This means that the Canton by taking advantage of the opportunities, can overcome the threats described.
Competitive advantages
To define competitive advantages, the Strategy Position and Action Assessment Matrix (PEYEA) are applied to “select the most appropriate strategies for a given organization; that is, aggressive, conservative, defensive or competitive. The axes of the PEYEA matrix represent two internal dimensions: (financial strength [FS], competitive advantage [CA]), two external dimensions (environmental stability [ES] and industry strength [IS]). These four factors may constitute the most important determinants of the general strategic position of an organization” (Fred, 2013, p.179).
Target audience segmentation
For segmentation, the quantitative and qualitative aspects are detailed in the following table:
|
Segmentation variables |
Quantitative aspects in general |
Qualitative aspects in general |
|
Geographical |
Target audience: inhabitants of ‘Playas Villamil’ Canton. |
Based on the analysis methodologies |
|
Demographic
|
Ages: between 15 to 59 years old. Sex: Male and Female
|
Based on the analysis methodologies |
Definition of objectives
To define the objectives, the identification of the criteria that are contained in the "conservative strategy is taken as a reference, such as: Penetrate the market, develop the market, develop the product and concentric diversification" (Fred, 2013, p.178). The objectives are expressed below:
1. Motivate the inhabitants of Playas Villamil Canton to develop an enterprise.
2. Know the entrepreneurship intention of the inhabitants of the Canton.
3. Encourage collaboration in promotions for tourists.
4. Encourage successful performance in entrepreneurs.
Strategy Formulation
The different strategies are disclosed below:
• Encourage constant workshops on entrepreneurship and tourism agreed with local leaders, and considering the respective permits.
• Promote artisan and gastronomic fairs with innovative dishes without losing the roots of the Canton, with the permits of the local authorities.
• Promote constant community recreation events for all audiences, for example parades typical costumes with the permits of the local authorities.
• Promotion of ventures through social networks.
• Promote the places to visit in the Canton by means of a virtual tourist guide.
• Empower entrepreneurs through social networks by disseminating activities and good business practices.
• Create a fund of innovation strategies that promote the development of new jobs while respecting their originality.
CONCLUSIONS
In Playas Villamil Canton, factors that influence community ventures were identified, such as the lack of training in areas related to strategy. The design of community tourism entrepreneurship strategies will serve to strengthen the socio-economic development of the inhabitants of ‘Playas Villamil’ Canton. With the application of the SWOT matrix, the current situation of the Canton in relation to entrepreneurship is described.
With the PEYEA matrix, through the analysis of financial forces, industry forces, competitive advantage, and the stability of the environment, the conservative strategy was identified. In addition, the EFE and EFI matrices were applied, by means of which the external and internal factors of the Canton were analyzed and helped to have a clearer perspective for determining the formulation of strategies. Also, there are factors that contribute to the growth of the community such as: strategic location, infrastructure, human resources, innovation and technology, without forgetting the weaknesses and threats it faces. It is necessary to consider the motivation of entrepreneurs to publicize their skills through the application of social media tools, in order to develop strategic ventures that would have a better community development in the Canton.
FINANCING
Non- monetary.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Thanks to the inhabitants of ‘Playas Villamil’ Canton who supported the development of this research with social relevance.
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