SUSTAINABLE TOURISM WITH THE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS-ECUADOR

At present, sustainable tourism has become an important activity in the economic development of a country, in order to maintain an environmental balance and to conserve natural and cultural resources. Implementing sustainable tourism in a country will depend on its potential. Tourism worldwide has been boosted by the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), with the use of business models that focus on Internet Marketing. In order to analyze the implications that ICTs have on tourism in Ecuador, this investigation was carried out. This study is focused on determining how sustainable tourism in the Galapagos Islands can strengthen this sector in the country using ICT as a tool. The methodology to carry out this research was through an extensive bibliographic review that involved a number of scientific, institutional and governmental articles. This search managed to make a clear definition of sustainable tourism, information related to the demand for tourism in the Galapagos archipelago was collected and, in this way, implement a management guided by sustainability and be able to offer a service that allows the destination to be more attractive. Finally, in the study of this practical case, different factors were taken into account that helped the application of sustainable development and that were analyzed with all the possible proposals, in addition to being able to give a detailed explanation of what tourism is like in the Galapagos Islands. It is important to mention that the sources consulted showed that sustainable tourism allows intertwining the economic, social and environmental aspects that are needed to strengthen tourism in Ecuador. Sustainable tourism has become a methodology of great importance at the economic level in the country, generating new sources of employment and providing the necessary support for work and paving the way for a better social, economic and political coexistence in the world, presenting a series of particularities that are studied from the observations obtained from the experience lived in Ecuador which serve as a basis to produce a renewal in the activities that are traditional and that are lasting over time.