A route of religious, cultural and gastronomic tourism in the Loja canton

Abstract

The city of Loja, also known as Immaculate Conception of Loja, is rich in its history and its cultural-religious and tourist attractions, welcomed by domestic and foreign tourists. The design proposal of a religious tourism route in the Loja canton is set as an objective. In the methodology, bibliographic research, situational diagnosis, interviews with key informants and a market study are considered important, the results of which were the ideal tool for the conformation of a new tourist proposal that addresses a cultural religious tourism route in the Loja city. The survey applied to the Lojanos citizens, allowed to gather truthful, punctual and historical information with relevant data related to the architecture, aesthetics and typology of the main churches and attractions related to the faith to be considered in the preparation of the route, with the purpose of that local people can realize, increase and strengthen their cultural knowledge. The pertinent investigations, we proceeded to build a route based on the suggestions of the target audience, concluding that the issue of faith for the distant citizenship is of great importance for its deep religious roots, constituting this research work in a contribution made in the city de Loja, which will surely be a source of consultation for future research.