Rurality as a key element for the reactivation of tourism in Cuenca. An alternative for sustainable development.
Description of the study case
Nulti is a rural parish located northeast of the city of Cuenca at 2577 meters above sea level. Its foundation dates back to 1869 by the order of President GarcÃa Moreno. Years later, the Political Tenancy was created in 1908 and nowadays there is the Parish Board that exercises the functions of political administration in the whole parish. The word Nulti is a deformation of the Cañari voice "multisapa", which is divided into two terms "multi"= few and "sapa"= weapons, meaning "People of Peace" "People of Few Weapons".
Nulti is composed of 12 communities and neighborhoods, which are Parish, Loma de Capilla, Arenal, Tablón, Challuabamba, Apangoras, Calusarin, LLatcon, Chocarsi, Las Minas, San Juan Pamba y Molle.
The inhabitants of Nulti have as their main economic activity agriculture and handicraft work, which is why for some years they have tried to carry out tourist activities focused on handicrafts. In 2018 they made a Tourism Plan for the parish in order to develop tourist activities that benefit the residents of the communities. Currently, the Parish GAD is working on the inventory of new tourist routes to attract visitors to the parish.
The tourism board... has proposed initiatives to develop tourism activity but it has become a complicated task... In this case, the tourism board intends to direct efforts in three priority areas to improve tourism...
The parish has created 5 tourist routes in recent years and is a good starting point to begin work on tourism management in the territory. Around the parish, there are activities that have promoted the mobility of people, one of which is the car fair that generates a large influx of visitors. The managers intend to take advantage of these activities to motivate people to visit the tourist attractions of Nulti.
The tourism board composed of parish authorities and community members has proposed initiatives to promote tourism but it has become a complicated task, due to the need to train people in tourism and to create new tourism services. In this case, the Nulti tourism board intends to direct efforts in three priority areas to improve tourism: the production of handicrafts in the parish, the promotion of gastronomy as a tourist product, and the training of tourist guides and service providers.
The most relevant attractions of Nulti are the archaeological zone of El Plateado, Mirador de Jalshi, Roca del Amor, Grietas del Plateado, Quinta Mercedes, and the Museum of Gastronomy of Cuenca. In the same way, there are artisan workshops and traditional bakeries that are planned to be activated for the tourist development of the town.
Unfortunately, for bureaucratic reasons, this parish will not continue as a strategic partner in the long term. However, it is a very interesting case study with a high potential for tourism development.
Photo Credits: Parish of Nulti.
Map generated in: https://www.maps.ie/create-google-map/
Source: initial information on the Pilot Project generated by the international team of the PREIT-Tour platform in May 2020.