Segmentation and motivation of foreign tourists in world heritage sites. A case study,Quito (Ecuador)

This paper presents an analysis of the current relationships between three fundamental constructs in the decision-making process of the visitor – motivation, satisfaction and loyalty – of a tourist destination World Heritage Site like the city of Quito, Ecuador. The results demonstrate the existence of three motivational dimensions among foreign visitors to visit the city: firstly cultural, secondly circumstantial and finally hedonic-gastronomic. Additionally, and tending to the motivational schemes, four types of foreign visitors have been identified: a hedonic-gastronomic cultural tourist, a hedonic-gastronomic tourist, a circumstantial hedonic-gastronomic cultural tourist and an alternative tourist. The reasons or motives of the visit reveal that only the hedonic-gastronomic dimension discriminates significantly as far as the degree of perceived satisfaction and loyalty declared by the visitors are concerned.     

Ecuadorian Farmers Facing Coffee and Cocoa Production Quality Labels

Quality labels refer to the adoption of voluntary standards by producers to highlight the quality to consumers and customers. Usually in agrofood, these focus on aspects of production systems and intrinsic characteristics of products. In agricultural production, quality labels focusing on ethical and environmental aspects have a high spectrum globally. The objective of this study was analyzing the farmers’ perceptions toward production with quality labels in cocoa and coffee in Ecuador. The information used comes from the development of two focus group sessions and 157 surveys addressed to producers. According to the results, environmentally friendly production systems represent an advantage and a disadvantage for farmers. When comparing farmers who produce with and without quality labels, it was found that issues related to market access are further motivating farmers to produce superior quality. Finally, from the producers’ point of view, the premium price paid for product certification is debatable.