EL DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE DE UNA REGIÓN CON GRAN POTENCIAL TURÍSTICO. EL CASO DEL VALLE DEL COLCA

The problems related to the need to develop functions outside the agricultural sector in rural areas are key from the point of view of the need to supply the countryside and improve the quality of life of its inhabitants. Taking advantage of owned properties in a given region can develop tourism. The Peruvian rural sector despite having several historical monuments and natural elements that attract tourists, bases its economic activity on agricultural activities. Such is the case of the Colca Valley where populations, as in all other Andean areas, are distributed in different ecological zones. In the mentioned valley they are found above 3300 m above sea level. Tourism in the theory and practice of planning the development of the fi eld is considered one of the important factors of economic growth; many times without detailed knowledge of both local values about tourism and the degree of social and natural vulnerability under the pressure of this activity. Assessing rural tourism as an element of the multifunctional sustainable development of the countryside is not so easy, as the analysis of the Colca Valley case has shown.