Centro agroturístico en el Cantón Atacames

Abstract

Esmeraldas, is one of the 24 provinces in Ecuador, located at the northwest of the country. It has a total area of 15 954 km², borders the Pacific Ocean to the west, to the east with the province of Carchi and Imbabura, to the north with the neighboring country of Colombia and to the south with the Provinces of Manabí, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas and Pichincha. It stands out for it’s tourism based economy, agricultural sector and oil. The tourism in Esmeraldas, is highly demanded at certain times of the year, which, represents a strong economy for the inhabitants who live from this resource. However, it has a greater focus on it’s beaches, being the main attraction of the province for tourists. On the other hand, the agricultural sector of Esmeraldas has a national high demand, because the different types of soils, which, are favorable for different plantations, apart from other variants such as height and climate. This also generates a strong economy for national consumption and also for the large amount of export of products and raw materials. This is the case of cocoa in Esmeraldas, its conditions are suitable for planting and harvesting the cocoa cob. The fine aroma cocoa in Ecuador is one of the main exportation sources of the country and stands out worldwide for its flavor characteristics, which are obtained through fermentation processes until it reaches its quality, in this way they are increasingly more countries that manage to rise the demand for cocoa exports in Ecuador to several continents. By mixing both conditions of the economy of Esmeraldas (tourism and agriculture), it is planned to promote agricultural tourism, in the case of Costa Esmeraldas the cocoa sector pretends to be a complement to tourist activities in Esmeraldas, through an agrotourism center with a focus on cocoa on these cantons of the province, showing cocoa as a relevant raw material, as well as encouraging knowledge and importance of cocoa with a fine national aroma.