Evaluation of the Importance of rural tourist attractions in Riobamba Canton, Ecuador

This study aims to evaluate the most important rural tourist attractions of the rural parishes of the Riobamba canton and determine the preferences of tourists regarding rural tourism destinations. Therefore, this research was developed in the 11 parishes of the Riobamba canton, in the province of Chimborazo, Ecuador. The field phase was carried out in the Chimborazo Fauna Reserve because the location is related to the object of the study, which was the tourist cohort attending to the area. The administration of all the questionnaires to more than 700 respondents was part of the data collection activity, which resulted in a computed sample of 500 completed questionnaires. For the visual perception section, a set of 11 photographs were extracted which were describing the most visited tourist attractions in 11 rural parishes of the Riobamba Canton and shown to the respondents The study result shows that natural tourist attractions such as the Chimborazo volcano and Altar volcano were the best rated, while cultural attractions such as “El Churo” viewpoint and “Virgen de las Nieves” church were rated with the lowest score by respondents. The result reveals that tourists are concerned about the security and safety of the destination, the accommodation price, and the variety of services that play a vital role in selecting a tourist destination. The finding shows that entertainment facilities, adventure facilities, hiking, and cultural attractions are considered to be important aspects for all tourists. Finally, these evaluations may be useful for tourists, the local population, and government entities in generating added value on the tourist attractions of greater importance while improving those of lesser importance. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.