Abstract
The aim of this study is to apply the methodology for assessment of environmental impact of the heritage town with health tourism interest that is assessed. Health tourism is based on the appropriate employment of natural resources, landscapes and the natural and cultural heritage of a place. In order to carry out the study, a set of both theoretical and empirical methods were used to analyze the case of Baños de Agua Santa. The theoretical methods include the analysis and synthesis employed throughout the research process, as well as in the bibliographic study and the evaluation of the information obtained. In addition, the inductive-deductive method was employed to analyze, process, and treat the information and data that were used frequently in this work. As for the empirical methods, the researchers employed participatory techniques with community stakeholders, in order to gather information through interviews. Also, researchers conducted direct observation of community activities. The automated method software is used which requires a baseline study of the environment assessment in Tungurahua, Ecuador, to be prepared. In addition, the analysis of the social perception on tourism of the local people from the course work of students at the UIDE shall be applied. The conclusions of the case studies undertaken allow for strategic proposals and recommendations to be prepared so that they can be incorporated into the management plans for health tourism in the town with natural heritage value.
Highlights
Health-care tourism has become a major industry in the past decade
The semi-structured interviews and surveys indicate that the natural vocation of the area as a health tourism destination can be oriented toward other markets, such as adventure tourism for youth, since it leaves the tourism options to the creativity of local companies
The findings obtained from the environmental assessment of the physical, socio-cultural and economic medium of the town of Baños incorporate abiotic, biotic, socio-cultural and economic components, which were evaluated using matrices based on the Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM) method, which produced the following results in Table 2 and Table 3
Summary
Health-care tourism has become a major industry in the past decade. Ruiz et al 800 the increasing activity in health-care tourism, the decision-making process of consumers in choosing an international health-care facility has become increasingly important to the related parties [1]. People need to go on holiday to relax both mentally and physically. People take vacation on many purposes such as to satisfy their intangible psychological or inner desire, to escape from boredom, to realize their adventure needs, to discover new things, to be healthy, to socialize or even to gain prestige [2]
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