https://doi.org/10.37955/cs.v6i1.249
Received: November 05, 2021 / Approved: April 22, 2022, 2021 Pages: 129-137
eISSN: 2600-5743
Companies providing tourism
services a social entrepreneurship
project
Empresas provedoras de servicio turisiticos un proyecto
de emprenimiento social
Solange Adriana Chóez Márquez
Student, Instituto Superior Tecnologico Espiritu Santo with university status, Guayaquil,
Ecuador, sachoezm@gmail.com, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4083-1410
Ana Luisa Lopez
Master, Instituto Superior Tecnológico Espíritu Santo with university status, Guayaquil,
Ecuador alopez@tes.edu.ec, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9201-5861
Genesis Asuncion
Ing. Instituto Superior Tecnologico Espiritu Santo with university status, Guayaquil,
Ecuador, gcasuncion@tes.edu.ec, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2448-716X
ABSTRACT
The external tourism operating agencies that provide services to
Tecnológico Espíritu Santo hinder, impede or delay the tourist-
educational development of the students of the Institution, for this
reason we present the proposal for the creation of a tourism operating
agency for the educational sector that provides tourist services to
Tecnológico Universitario Espíritu Santo, regulated by the pertinent
entities of the Institution for its operative functioning, carrying out the
creation, promotion and commercialization of varied tourist packages
that allow the insertion of the students and professors of the career for
interaction and learning towards the challenge of the labor world,
therefore it is detached from the intermediation.
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RESUMEN
Las agencias operadoras de turismo externas que prestan servicios al
Tecnológico Espíritu Santo obstaculizan, impiden o retrasan el
desarrollo turístico-educativo de los estudiantes de la Institución, por
lo que se presenta la propuesta de creación de una agencia operadora
de turismo para el sector educativo que preste servicios turísticos al
Tecnológico Universitario Espíritu Santo, regulada por las entidades
pertinentes de la Institución para su funcionamiento operativo,
realizando la creación, promoción y comercialización de variados
paquetes turísticos que permitan la inserción de los estudiantes y
profesores de la carrera para la interacción y aprendizaje hacia el reto
del mundo laboral, por lo que se desprende de la intermediación.
Keywords / Palabras clave
Operating agencies, educational, labor
Agencias operadoras, educativo, laborales
Introduction
This project focuses on the creation of an operating agency for the
tourism-educational sector that functions as a pedagogical tool to
empower students, generating awareness of value and importance for
the social and economic development of the region, while at the same
time preparing them in their role as hosts so that in the future they will
be the managers of this activity.
Tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon that involves
the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual
environment for personal, professional or business reasons. These
people are called travelers (who may be either tourists or
excursionists; residents or non-residents) and tourism encompasses
their activities, some of which involve tourism expenditure (Glossary
of Tourism Terms, 2020) . Ecuador is divided into 4 regions:
Galapagos, Coast, Andes and Amazon. Its diverse, but at the same time
compact geography, excellent road network and airports provide the
opportunity to travel this territory in relatively few days. Tourists can
take a cruise or engage in adventure activities, relax in a spa, enjoy a
gastronomy enriched by high quality products, visit museums, among
other alternatives.
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In this small Latin American country, many efforts have been devoted
to the definition of a development model and a privileged position has
been given to Conscious Tourism, as a tourism alternative that seeks
to differentiate itself from mass tourism, sun and place, sharing the
philosophy of alternative tourism, accessible tourism, sustainable
tourism and social tourism. It is a concept that encompasses social
responsibility, sustainability, environment and ethics.
According to the Ministry of Tourism in Ecuador, the foreign exchange
generated by tourism in 2015 was 1557.4 million US dollars, value
compared to 1449, reflects a decline that corresponds to the global
economic situation and the interference of factors that have affected
the activity, such as the appreciation of the dollar, the devaluation of
the currency of our neighbors Peru and Colombia that turned them
into economic destinations, the sika virus, dengue, the activity of the
Cotopaxi volcano, the earthquake of April 16 and the earthquakes
registered during December in Esmeraldas that directly affected the
Christmas and New Year's holiday. (Lucia Bravo, 2018)
Tourism has become one of the most important economic and cultural
activities for countries and regions, especially those in the process of
development, and constitutes one of the most dynamic sectors, which
has experienced great growth in recent years, in citation reasons for its
importance (Ecuador Tourism Policy, 2017).
According to the General Coordination of Statistics and Research of
the MINTUR, in 2017 there were 1,617,914 international arrivals to the
country, which represents a growth of 14% in relation to 2016, and that
in dollars means $1,204.5 million, which is equivalent to a growth of
12% in relation to each year. (Entorno Turistico, 2020) . Tour
operators are those agents that participate in the tourist activity as
intermediaries between the final consumer (the tourist, the tourist
demand) and the tourist product (good or service, tourist destination)
although they can extend their intermediary action to the rest of the
complementary offer (restaurants, hotels, lodging offer, etc.) (Unwto,
1998).
The emergence of Tour Operators dates back to the 1950s, when they
appeared in Central European countries. At the beginning they
included scheduled tours, hotels related to them as accommodation
suppliers and charter flights as the usual means of transportation
(History of Tour Operators, 2020).
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The concept of All Inclusive Travel is linked to the development of this
modality of travel of the Tour Operator, due to the fact that this
concept comprehensively includes the hiring of accommodation, food
and transportation, thus achieving low costs and high occupancy,
which led to the entry into this activity of the so-called Travel
Organizers, which are none other than Wholesalers and Tour
Operators. (History of Tour Operators, 2020).
For this reason, these companies offered the public competitive and
reduced prices, compared to those offered by regular transport
companies that at that time, flew at very high prices, thus initiating the
development of this.
At the end of World War II, there were a large number of pilots and
military aircraft in Europe, which led to the proliferation of airlines
offering charter flights, and the association between tour operators
and charter companies at that time is considered a natural
phenomenon.
As the European industrial middle class was already enjoying paid
vacations at that time, and being thirsty when traveling, the tour
operating companies designed a type of travel very cheap and well
adapted to this social class.
During the summer vacations, as the demand was for warm weather
and sea, the most common destination for mass group travelers was
the beaches of the Mediterranean.
Then began the circuits in cities and sites of cultural interest, whose
means of transport was the bus. The great intercontinental trips and
vacations arose in the middle of the 70's; but using as a means of air
transportation the regular flight lines who had considerably reduced
their prices and created special fares.
Many Tour Operator companies have grown too quickly, lacking in
most cases, a firm management or financial support capable of keeping
them in the market, so they have suffered bankruptcies and
dissolutions. However, others continue to expose themselves and
mobilize millions of people thirsty for travel every year.
Tour operators create attention in consumers about the excursions
and activities that are promoted, most of them are linked to tourism
sustainability in order to create and generate a new experience to be
repeated.
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(Christ, 2003) "The success of tourism sustainability is evaluated by
operators through their management guides".
Selecting appropriate destinations: Operators make a meticulous
selection of destinations from which they take tourists. They may not
be aware of the vulnerability of certain destinations, or of other, more
sustainable destinations that may be more attractive or more
sustainable.
Reduce impacts on sensitive environments: Operators need to be
alerted to sensitive environments whose damage is caused by tourists.
Limit group size: Some sensitive or very popular sites can still be used
by tourists if the group is small. Although this reduces the number of
customers per tour, tourists tend to appreciate the personalized
attention of small groups and places with fewer people are generally
willing to pay more for the tour.
Hire local guides: Use local suppliers and fair deals: Whenever
possible local guides and suppliers should be used, this may require
training programs and guides in subjects such as history, biology,
botany and languages.
Raise awareness and educate tourists: Operators can help educate
tourists by providing them with brochures and/or guides explaining
cultural aspects and conservation of the area. Most tourists want to
learn about the local environment and culture.
Contribute to conservation and the community: Operators can donate
a portion of their profits to conservation activities and community
needs such as schools, clinics, etc.
Educational tourism or its inclusion as a form of tourism has gained
momentum in recent years; however, it is possible to show that travel
motivated by learning dates back to much earlier times. For example,
in Europe, a phenomenon known as peregrinatio academica refers to
the journeys made by university students, pilgrims and professors
from the 11th century until about the 15th century, with the main
purpose of obtaining new knowledge in cosmopolitan cities. These
travelers visited the holy places and universities of the time, which
allowed them to live new experiences, learn other languages, establish
social relations and acquire another vision of reality.
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For its part, the sixteenth century was considered the golden age of
student travel, due to the intention of the humanists of the time that
students travel to be educated in different universities with the
purpose of acquiring prestige in the professional field. This trend
continued for the next two centuries, which is why it came to be known
as the era of the Grand Tour. ( 2016)
Years later, at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th
century, the Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones
Científicas (JAE) was created in Spain, with the mission of facilitating
the academic training of students and professors who were granted
scholarships to study in the best universities in Europe. The JAE
granted approximately 1700 pensions before its dissolution in 1939,
becoming a symbol of academic travel between Spain and the rest of
Europe.
Materials and Methods
The focus of this project consists of the theories, models and
methodologies associated with the type of research to be used:
quantitative and qualitative in order to collect information and process
the results obtained.
The method to be developed is documentary bibliographic in
conjunction with theoretical criteria and field research such as:
interviews, book sources and website documents describing each of
the scenarios, concepts and models applied to the management and
innovation of the Tourism Industry.
The present research work carried out, details the instruments to be
used as surveys and interviews for the collection of necessary
information that processes and analyzes the information based on a
previously determined sample. For the sample of the selected group
and the development of the investigation, we count with the
participation of the students of the tourism degree, whose indication
is the survey to be carried out to determine the preferences of the
tourist services to be provided by the Tourist Operator.
These are the respective procedures, tools that are used for the
investigative operation whose sequence allows us to approach the
reality and feasibility of the same.
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The instrument to be used is the interview with the participation of the
corporate sector as a logical empirical aspect that measures the activity
of the tourism market.
Results
The survey was based on 9 qualitative and quantitative questions,
through these questions we were able to analyze the introduction and
the services to be offered at Sc Travelers Operadora de Turismo.
Thus it is concluded that the majority of respondents are students
actively pursuing a career in tourism and perform tourism activity in
the range of 18-26 years of age representing 73%, followed by the adult
group in the range 26-35 years with 21% and finally the minority
percentage of respondents in the range of 40-60 years and older
representing 6%, according to the results of the surveys the majority
group of students at the Institute represented with 83% belong to the
female gender and the remaining group with 17% of respondents are
of male gender. The figure shows that the respondents answered that
they are satisfied with the service provided by the previous Tour
Operator, representing 56%, followed by the second group with 40%
and the remaining minority group of students with 4% of
dissatisfaction with the services provided. Consequently, the data in
the figure indicate that 79% of the students agree that the instructions
of their travel program should be carried out during class hours, since
the duration of the program is 15 minutes, the second group,
representing 11%, disagrees and with a difference of 1%, the others,
with 10%, indicate that it does not apply, that is to say that they are
indifferent. By virtue of the results obtained, there is great acceptance
on the part of the students, representing 90% of their preferences in
trips outside the country, since the operator has planned, through
alliances, to elaborate tourist packages abroad, creating experiential
and academic experiences for the students. And only 10% of those
surveyed indicated that they do not consider foreign trips. According
to the results of the survey, 68% of the people responded that their
tourist package should include the all-inclusive system (breakfast,
lunch and dinner) in programs from 02 nights onwards, followed by
8% for travel insurance that supports the safety of students in case of
an incident, and lastly, 24% for payment facilities when acquiring the
tourist package. The figure shows the preferences of the people
surveyed to visit the regions of Ecuador on a larger scale representing
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46% the Sierra region due to its beautiful landscapes and climate, 27%
indicate the Insular region refers to the Galapagos Islands, a World
Heritage Site with great biodiversity of fauna, followed by the Coastal
region with 20% to visit its beaches and other natural and cultural
attractions, and on the last scale with a minority percentage of 7%
representing the Eastern region.
Conclusions
The results show that a majority percentage of students intend to take
regional trips that do not exceed US$100.
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