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Tourist Reactivation Through Digital Marketing in the Communities of Santa Elena Province: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract:

The tourism sector is constantly changing, much more now that the reactivation of the sector depends a lot on digital marketing, which is a tool that allows the promotion of places carried out by companies in the hotel sector, entertainment venues, restaurants, transport companies, and others. In addition, this sector is in charge of all the actions that focus on offering the best service to tourists. The Province of Santa Elena is one of the most touristic places in Ecuador, with unique beaches and typical food. However, the tourism sector faces serious challenges to recover, but it also has several opportunities to implement digital marketing tools. That is why the objective of the research was to identify these challenges and opportunities that the tourism sector has in several communities of Santa Elena. A content analysis of secondary information and an interview with the presidents of the analyzed communities of Santa Elena were used. As a result, it was determined that there are important challenges in the uptake of technology, problems of access to human and financial resources, sharing of information and uncertainty, and fear in the adoption of digital marketing tools. On the other hand, opportunities such as national, provincial, and local government programs for the application of digital marketing tools; local university programs; and the availability of digital tools were identified.