PROCEDURE TO ASSESS COMPETITIVENESS IN RURAL TOURIST DESTINATIONS

The present work has as object of study the competitiveness in the rural tourist destinations. Its objective is to develop a procedure to evaluate competitiveness in rural tourist destinations, which is validated both from a theoretical and practical point of view when implemented in two selected parishes, located in the Canton Ruminahui, Province of Pichincha, Republic of Ecuador. As important results, the following stand out: the general procedure, containing a series of specific procedures, with a systemic approach, which allows the evaluation of tourist competitiveness from its complex and multidimensional nature, which does not appear, at least explicitly, in similar studies. This novel result constitutes an essential contribution to the study of the selected object. The proposal facilitates a greater theoretical-practical understanding and covers the deficiencies exposed by the scientific community on the subject, which justifies the realization of the present investigation; The construction of a synthetic indicator that facilitates benchmarking between rural tourist destinations stands out.