EL SEGMENTO ECOHEDÓNICO SOCIAL DE LA ISLA SANTAY DE ECUADOR (HUMEDAL 1041 RAMSAR) Y SU DISPONIBILIDAD A PAGAR (DAP) PARA SU CONSERVACIÓN.

The island of Santay, located in front of the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, is a RAMSAR wetland of international relevance, in which the number of visitors has decreased due to its lack of maintenance. The objectives of this work are to find the willingness to pay (WTP) by visitors to this wetland and to evaluate the possibility of entertaining activities for ecohedonic families. For this, it is necessary to analyze the profile of the current visitor who arrives at the island of Santay and identify the variables that condition the WTP of the visitor with a predilection for these tourism destinations, but with better conservation. The research method has a positivist approach (quantitative), descriptive and bibliographic method. Data collection used the document analysis technique and checklists. The profile of the current visitor and the variables that determine the WTP are analyzed. The echohedonic segment is the most representative. However, 49% are not willing to pay for the little varied offer and its price. Likewise, the case studies of segmentation and motivations in ecotourism are analyzed by reviewing the scientific literature. The results are the basis for tourism actors considering joining the eco-hedonic-social segment with travel packages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]