Ecotourism and community-based tourism

The emerging needs of the contemporary tourist are oriented towards direct contact with the communities they visit, the knowledge and learning of their experiences, customs and food, and the weighting of these interests correspond to the foundations of Ecotourism and Community Tourism. These tourism practices give birth to a new type of lodging, "homestay" or homestay. The research investigates homestays and how this community-based ecotourism activity promotes and collaborates with the economic and social development of a community. Different experiences in the world and in Argentina with their respective regulatory contexts are reviewed. Then, the potentialities and benefits of implementing a homestay management system in the municipality of Roque Pérez are identified. This study points out that the implementation of a homestay management system suggests a series of benefits for the municipality, since it can be considered as an instrument for the promotion of community-based ecotourism in the region.