Orchids as a Tourist Resource in the Southern Area of Manabí Province

  This article consists of analyzing the potential of the endemic species and representative orchids of the province of Manabí that investigates and determines its importance for tourism. Given that Ecuador is one of the countries that has a great diversity of Orchidaceae families and other vascular plants, the province of Manabí presents important resources of wealth, such as orchids to develop a tourism offer of highly differentiated nature. A selection of sampling, participatory observations and interviews with key informants were conducted for the research development (25); a search for information was also carried out, including by reviewing publications and reports on botanical and tourism data. Sixty-one (61) orchids and five hybrids were identified in total. The most representative genus Epidendrum (6), Oncidium (5), Dendrobium (4) Pleurothallis (4) and Stelis (3). It is concluded that the identification, organization shows the need for interpretive hiking implementation, integrating education and conservation observing the orchids in their natural environment, allowing the generation of economic income by exploiting the potential of local communities, integrating all local actors.