ICTs and Rural Tourism

Abstract

This chapter aims to analyze the role that information and communication technologies (ICTs) have played in the processes of adaptation, learning, and tourist reactivation in rural areas, in the context of the pandemic caused by the spread of the zoonotic virus SARS-Cov-2. For this, a case study of the rural tourism offer was developed that includes the experiences of nine community tourism enterprises, settled in indigenous territories of the Central Mexican Highlands. The research approach was qualitative, and it was proposed to systematize the experiences that the enterprises have accumulated throughout the pandemic and during the process of social isolation. It is concluded that the use and exploitation of ICTs in rural areas is still incipient, in terms of their potential as tools for the promotion, marketing, and positioning of rural tourist destinations. It is necessary to overcome the technological gap in the context of the new socioeconomic characteristics that rural tourism will face, many of which will remain in force in the medium and long terms.

Turismo rural y COVID-19

“…La brecha tecnológica entre el campo y la ciudad invita a reflexionar sobre el papel de las herramientas tecnológicas en el desarrollo del turismo rural. Algunos emprendimientos adoptaron nuevas formas de comunicación, modificando sus acciones de promoción y comunicación, frente a procesos intermitentes de cierre y reapertura, lo cual constituye una estrategia de adaptabilidad en el contexto global (Thomé-Ortiz et al, 2021).…”