Motivations: An Analysis of Tourism Behavior in Ecuador

Hernán Mauricio Quisimalín-Santamaría; Luis Gilberto Quisimalín-Santamaría; Alice Ibeth Garzón-Montaguano

doi:10.25145/j.pasos.2026.24.006

Authors

Hernán Mauricio Quisimalín-Santamaría Universidad Técnica de Ambato https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8491-8326
Luis Gilberto Quisimalín-Santamaría Universidad Técnica de Ambato
Alice Ibeth Garzón-Montaguano Universidad Técnica de Ambato

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25145/j.pasos.2026.24.006

Keywords:

Tourism, Behavior, Motivational factors, Sustainable development, Ecuador

Abstract

This study on tourism behavior in Ecuador analyses and synthesises the primary motivating factors for both domestic and international tourists. This piece of longitudinal research categorises visitor motivations while assessing the influence of various productive sectors that are a good fit for the same. Through factor analysis, three core motivational dimensions have been identified: satisfaction, adventure travel,and safety, with the latter currently of most significance. These findings hold considerable implications for strategic tourism development, facilitating market segmentation and fostering sustainable development from both the social and economic perspectives.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Publication Facts

This article

Author statements

Data availability

N/A

16%

External funding

No

32%

Competing interests

N/A

11%

This journal

Other journals

Articles accepted

54%

33%

Days to publication

727

145

Indexed in

DOAJ
GS
L
S

Editor & editorial board: profiles
Academic society: PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural
Publisher: Instituto Universitario de Investigación Social y Turismo. Universidad de La Laguna (España) - Instituto Universitario da Maia ISMAI (Portugal)

Author Biographies

Hernán Mauricio Quisimalín-Santamaría, Universidad Técnica de Ambato

This bibliographic summary covers a variety of topics related to industrial and tourism development, as well as collaboration between universities and industries. The analysis of influential factors in the development of the aeronautical industry in emerging countries is highlighted, presented as a case study. In addition, the perspective of social commerce in the real estate sector, tourist behavior and relationship marketing strategies in the tourism field are addressed. The concept of endogenous development in business management is also explored, specifically in Tungurahua, Ecuador, in the era of Industry 4.0. Additionally, barriers and project management solutions in defense research and development are examined, as well as the social, tourism and environmental impact of plastic. Finally, tourism marketing experiences through virtual environments and the role of virtual reality in electronic tourism are explored.

Luis Gilberto Quisimalín-Santamaría, Universidad Técnica de Ambato

The author obtained a degree in Commercial Engineering with a mention in Productivity Management from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador - Ambato Campus in November 2010. Subsequently, he expanded his knowledge with a Master's Degree in Business Administration with a mention in Planning, completed in January 2015 at the same institution. In November 2019, he completed a Master's Degree in Business Management with a major in Finance at the Camilo Jose Cela University in Madrid, Spain. These academic achievements support his outstanding career in business management and his focus on areas such as finance and planning.

References

Acosta, A., Quevedo, W., Andaluz, V., Gallardo, C., Santana, J., Castro, J., Quisimalin, M., & Córdova, V. (2017). Tourism Marketing through Virtual Environment Experience. Proceedings of the 2017 9th International Conference on Education Technology and Computers - ICETC 2017, Part F1346, 262–267. https://doi.org/10.1145/3175536.3176651

Aguado, M., González, J., Bellott, K., López, C., & Montes, C. (2018). Exploring subjective well-being and ecosystem services perception along a rural–urban gradient in the high Andes of Ecuador. Ecosystem Services, 34, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2018.09.002

Badola, R., Hussain, S., Rastogi, A., Anand, A., & Hickey, G. (2015). Wildlife-tourism, local communities and tiger conservation: A village-level study in Corbett Tiger Reserve, India. Forest Policy and Economics, 61, 11–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2015.04.007

Baker, D., & Crompton, J. (2000). Quality, satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Annals of Tourism Research, 27(3), 785–804. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-7383(99)00108-5

Bernal, J. Martinez, M, Sanchez, J. et al. (2004). Modelización de los factores más importantes que caracterizan un sitio en la red. XII JORNADAS ASEPUMA, Actas_12(1), 7.

Bravo, E. (2014). La biodiversidad en el Ecuador (1st ed.). Editorial Universitaria Abya-Yala. https://dspace.ups.edu.ec/bitstream/123456789/6788/1/La Biodiversidad.pdf

Cajiao, D., Leung, Y. F., Larson, L. R., Tejedo, P., & Benayas, J. (2022). Tourists’ motivations, learning, and trip satisfaction facilitate pro-environmental outcomes of the Antarctic tourist experience. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jort.2021.100454

Carvache, W., Carvache, M., Carvache, O., & Hernández, A. (2020). Motivation and segmentation of the demand for coastal and marine destinations. Tourism Management Perspectives, 34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2020.100661

Cascales, G., Fuentes, L., y De Esteban, J. (2017). La interacción de los hoteles con las redes sociales: un análisis de los hoteles de cuatro estrellas de la Comunidad de Madrid (España). Cuadernos de Turismo, 39, 131. https://doi.org/10.6018/turismo.39.290471

Castaño, J., Crego, A., García, S., y Moreno, A. (2003). Aproximación psicosocial a la motivación turística: variables implicadas en la elección de Madrid como destino. Estudios Turísticos, 158(158), 5–42.

Castro, J.; Córdova, V.; Quisimalin, M. (2017). Emprendimiento turístico: desde una perspectiva demográfica. Revista mktDescubre, 21–28.

Chung, A., & Chung, A. (2009). Prospectiva estratégica: más allá del plan estratégico. Industrial Data, 12(2), 27–31. http://sisbib.unmsm.edu.pe/bibvirtual/publicaciones/indata/v12_n2/pdf/a04v12n2.pdf

Cohen, S., Prayag, G., & Moital, M. (2014). Consumer behaviour in tourism: Concepts, influences and opportunities. Current Issues in Tourism, 17(10), 872–909. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2013.850064

Crompton J. (1979). Motivations for pleasure vacation. Annals of Tourism Research, 6(4), 408–424.

De Esteban, J.; Antonovica, A. (2010). El ecoturismo como modelo internacional de desarrollo sostenible del turismo cultural. Revista de Teoría y Praxis, 8, 43–53.

De la Fuente, S. (2011). Análisis Factorial PASO A PASO. Universidad Autónoma, 1–34. http://www.fuenterrebollo.com/Economicas/ECONOMETRIA/MULTIVARIANTE/FACTORIAL/analisis-factorial.pdf

Castillo, E., Martinez, F., y Vazques, E. (2015). EL TURISMO EN ECUADOR. NUEVAS TENDENCIAS EN EL TURISMO SOSTENIBLE. In Revista Galega de Economía (Vols. 24–2). http://www.usc.es/econo/RGE/Vol24/rge2426.pdf

Fallatah, R., & Syed, J. (2018). A Critical Review of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In Employee Motivation in Saudi Arabia (pp. 19–59). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67741-5_2

Fang, B., Ye, Q., Kucukusta, D., & Law, R. (2016). Analysis of the perceived value of online tourism reviews: Influence of readability and reviewer characteristics. Tourism Management, 52, 498–506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2015.07.018

García, A., y Lavalle, N. (2012). Algunas consideraciones sobre la actividad turística. conceptos y definiciones de turismo. Notas En Turismo y Economía, 3(4), 7–43.

García, J., León, J., y Nuño, J. (2017). Propuesta de un modelo de medición de la competitividad mediante análisis factorial. Contaduría y Administración, 62(3), 775–791. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cya.2017.04.003

Garcia, S. (2018). The Integrated Territorial Investment (ITI) of the Mar Menor as a model for the future in the comprehensive management of enclosed coastal seas. Ocean and Coastal Management, 166(May), 82–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2018.05.004

García-palomares, J. C., Salas-olmedo, M. H., Moya-g, B., & Guti, J. (2018). Tourists’ digital footprint in cities: Comparing Big Data sources. 66, 13–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2017.11.001

Gitelson, R., & Crompton, J. (1983). The Planning Horizons and Sources of Information Used by Pleasure Vacationers. Journal of Travel Research, 21(3), 2–7. https://doi.org/10.1177/004728758302100301

González-Rodríguez, M. R., Díaz-Fernández, M. C., & Pulido-Pavón, N. (2023). Tourist destination competitiveness: An international approach through the travel and tourism competitiveness index. Tourism Management Perspectives, 47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2023.101127

Instituto Geográfico Militar. (2020). Atlas Turístico del Ecuador: cuatro mundos para descubrir (Primera Edición).

Jaramillo, R. (2014). Ecuadorian educational system: A historical overview up to date. Sistema Educativo Ecuatoriano, January 2014. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.4401.7047

Jeong, J., García-Moruno, L., Hernández-Blanco, J., & Sánchez-Ríos, A. (2016). Planning of rural housings in reservoir areas under (mass) tourism based on a fuzzy DEMATEL-GIS/MCDA hybrid and participatory method for Alange, Spain. Habitat International, 57, 143–153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2016.07.008

Jeuring, J. (2016). Discursive contradictions in regional tourism marketing strategies: The case of Fryslân, The Netherlands. Journal of Destination Marketing and Management, 5(2), 65–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2015.06.002

Kantola, S., Uusitalo, M., Nivala, V., & Tuulentie, S. (2018). Tourism resort users’ participation in planning: Testing the public participation geographic information system method in Levi, Finnish Lapland. Tourism Management Perspectives, 27, 22–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2018.04.001

Kastenholz, E., Eusébio, C., & Carneiro, M. (2018). Segmenting the rural tourist market by sustainable travel behaviour: Insights from village visitors in Portugal. Journal of Destination Marketing and Management, 10, 132–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2018.09.001

Lee, S., Bruwer, J., & Song, H. J. (2017). Experiential and involvement effects on the Korean wine tourist’s decision-making process. Current Issues in Tourism, 20(12), 1215–1231. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2015.1050362

Lloret, S., Ferreres, A., Hernández, A., y Tomás, I. (2014). El análisis factorial exploratorio de los ítems: Una guía práctica, revisada y actualizada. Anales de Psicologia, 30(3), 1151–1169. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.30.3.199361

López-Cámara, A.-B., González-López, I., & de León-Huertas, C. (2015). Exploratory factor analysis to construct a model of university teaching evaluation indicators / Un análisis factorial exploratorio para la construcción de un modelo de indicadores de evaluación docente universitaria. Cultura y Educación, 27(2), 337–371. https://doi.org/10.1080/11356405.2015.1035546

Martínez, C., Yubero, C., Ferreiro, E., & Miguel, S. (2021). Didactic use of GIS and Street View for Tourism Degree students: Understanding commercial gentrification in large urban destinations. Investigaciones Geograficas, 75, 61–85. https://doi.org/10.14198/INGEO2020.MYFM

Martin-Rios, C., & Ciobanu, T. (2019). Hospitality innovation strategies: An analysis of success factors and challenges. Tourism Management, 70, 218–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2018.08.018

Mckercher, B., Hardy, A., & Aryal, J. (2019). Using tracking technology to improve marketing: insights from a historic town in Tasmania, Australia. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2019.1580243

Mendoza, Á., Mateos, M., & Reinoso, N. (2021). Perception and rating of tourism entrepreneurs in the recovery of travel destinations affected by social-natural disasters: Case study from the April 16th earthquake in Ecuador. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102488

Menor, A., Muñoz, G., Pérez, J., y Hidalgo, A. (2019). A segmentation of collaborative tourists in World Heritage Sites. Heliyon, 5(8). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02348

Ministerio de Turismo. (2019a). Informe de tendencias globales en consumo, tecnología y turismo. https://servicios.turismo.gob.ec/descargas/Turismo-cifras/Publicaciones/Tendencias/2019/TENDENCIAS-DE-TURISMO-2019.pdf

Ministerio de Turismo. (2019b). Informe de tendencias globales de consumo. Tecnología y turismo 2019. Studocu.

Ministerio de Turismo del Ecuador. (2022). Establecimientos Registrados. Ministerio de Turismo Del Ecuador. https://servicios.turismo.gob.ec/index.php/turismo-cifras/2018-09-18-21-11-17/establecimientos-registrados

Moratis, L., & Melissen, F. (2020). Reflections on ‘True ‘Business Sustainability: Challenging Definitions, Recognizing Couplings and Developing Intelligence. In The Future of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (pp. 227–238). Springer.

Ministerio del Ambiente del Ecuador. (2015). Quinto informe nacional para el convenio sobre la diversidad biológica. https://www.ambiente.gob.ec/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2015/06/QUINTO-INFORME-BAJA-FINAL-19.06.2015.pdf

Muñoz, L., Hausner, V., Brown, G., Runge, C., & Fauchald, P. (2019). Identifying spatial overlap in the values of locals, domestic- and international tourists to protected areas. Tourism Management, 71, 259–271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2018.07.015

Nikitina, O., & Vorontsova, G. (2015). Aging Population and Tourism: Socially Determined Model of Consumer Behavior in the “Senior Tourism” Segment. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 214(June), 845–851. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.11.736

Ocampo, J. y Arteaga, N. (2018). Desarrollo social: In América Latina en la larga historia de la desigualdad. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1qv3tt.5

Organización Mundial del Turismo (OMT). (2021). Tendencias del turismo internacional en 2019. In Panorama del turismo internacional, Edición 2020. World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). https://doi.org/10.18111/9789284422746

Orús, A. (08 de agosto de 2023). Número de personas fallecidas a causa del coronavirus en el mundo a fecha de 8 de agosto de 2023, por país. Statista. https://es.statista.com/estadisticas/1095779/numero-de-muertes-causadas-por-el-coronavirus-de-wuhan-por-pais/

Page, S. J. (2011). Chapter 2 - Tourism: Its origins, growth and future. In Tourism Management (Fourth Edition, pp. 35–55). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-096932-9.10002-X

Park, S., Hahn, S., Lee, T., & Jun, M. (2018). Two factor model of consumer satisfaction: International tourism research. Tourism Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2018.01.007

Pérez, M., Vargas, J., & Martinez, J. (2019). Mapping and Analyzing Ecological Distribution Conflicts in Andean Countries. Ecological Economics, 157(November 2018), 80–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.11.004

Quezada, P., Macas, J., Roman, C., & Martin, J. (2018). A body of knowledge representation model of ecotourism products in southeastern Ecuador. Heliyon, 4(12). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e01063

Rodas, M., Ullauri, N., y Sanmartín, I. (2015). El Turismo Comunitario en el Ecuador: Una revisión de la literatura. RICIT. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315696874

Ruiz, E. (2011). Social-ecological resilience and community-based tourism. An approach from Agua Blanca, Ecuador. Tourism Management, 32(3), 655–666. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2010.05.021

Ryu, E. (2014). Factorial invariance in multilevel confirmatory factor analysis. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 67(1), 172–194. https://doi.org/10.1111/bmsp.12014

Salas, M., Moya, B., García, J., & Gutiérrez, J. (2018). Tourists’ digital footprint in cities: Comparing Big Data sources. Tourism Management, 66, 13–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2017.11.001

Stafford, R., Clitherow, T. J., Howlett, S. J., Spiers, E. K. A., Williams, R. L., Yaselga, B., Valarezo, S. Z., Vera Izurieta, D. F., & Cornejo, M. (2016). An integrated evaluation of potential management processes on marine reserves in continental Ecuador based on a Bayesian belief network model. Ocean and Coastal Management, 121, 60–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2015.12.010

Tiku, O., Shimizu, T., & Hartono, D. (2022). Tourism’s income distribution in West Papua Province. Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annale.2022.100038

Universidad de Granada. (2004). Prácticas con SPSS. Análisis multivariante. 41–65. http://www.ugr.es/~curspss/archivos/AFactorial/PracticasSPSS.pdf

Wang, C., Zhang, J., Yu, P., & Hu, H. (2018). The theory of planned behavior as a model for understanding tourists’ responsible environmental behaviors: The moderating role of environmental interpretations. Journal of Cleaner Production, 194, 425–434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.05.171

World Tourism Organization. (2020a). Global Guidelines To Restart Tourism (Issue May).

World Tourism Organization. (2020b). www.unwto.org. In GLOBAL GUIDELINES TO RESTART. WTO Publication Service. https://www.unwto.org/covid-19-resources

World Tourism Organization. (2023). Global guidelines to restart. World Tourism Organization.

Yan, L., & Lee, M. (2015). Are tourists satisfied with the map at hand? Current Issues in Tourism, 18(11), 1048–1058. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2014.959904

Yang, Y., Zhang, H., & Chen, X. (2020). Coronavirus pandemic and tourism: Dynamic stochastic general equilibrium modeling of infectious disease outbreak. Annals of Tourism Research, 83, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2020.102913

Yolal, M., Çetinel, F., & Uysal, M. (2009). An examination of festival motivation and perceived benefits relationship: Eskişehir international festival. Journal of Convention and Event Tourism. https://doi.org/10.1080/15470140903372020

Yun, H., Kang, D., & Lee, M. (2018). Spatiotemporal distribution of urban walking tourists by season using GPS-based smartphone application. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 23(11), 1047–1061. https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2018.1513949

Zenker, S., & Kock, F. (2020). The coronavirus pandemic – A critical discussion of a tourism research agenda. Tourism Management, 81, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104164

Zhao, Y., Zeng, Y., Li, X., Yuan, K., Li, Y., Tian, L., Sun, J., & Bai, W. (2023). Modeling and application of sensory evaluation of blueberry wine based on principal component analysis. Current Research in Food Science, 6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crfs.2022.11.022