THE COMPLEX CHARACTER OF COMPETITIVENESS IN RURAL TOURIST DESTINATIONS: CONSIDERATIONS FOR TOURISM STUDIES

The tourist phenomenon has a relevant importance for the economy of the countries. In this sense, this article deals with the competitiveness of tourist destinations with an emphasis on rurality. Failure to do so would prevent the strengthening of tourist activity in the communities. The work focuses on the complex nature of competitiveness applied in different contexts, evidencing a conceptualization directly related to the purpose of its evaluation, the results are evident as limitations for the evaluation, and considerations that contribute to solving one of the great difficulties in managing competitiveness at the tourist destination level. The theoretical contributions analyzed can be used in the careers of Tourism in Ecuador.