Fotografía documental en bajo alto para potenciar el turismo gastronómico, año 2022.

Abstract

It is of utmost importance within a city to make known the various tourist sites belonging to it, for that reason in this research it was proposed as an objective to enhance the gastronomic tourism of the Bajo Alto beach, which shall be met by applying qualitative-quantitative methodology, such as interviews with restaurant owners, professional photographers, head of the tourism department and director of communication of El Guabo city, as well as surveys focused on tourists who have visited this place, which allowed us to obtain the information needed about the current situation of gastronomic promotion from this place. Through the interviews it was possible to confirm that Bajo Alto has a hybrid and exquisite gastronomy to taste, however the owners of the different restaurants located on this beach don’t make adequate use of social networks to broadcast what they offer in their menus. This means that there is little information that allows locals and strangers to know the services provided in this commun. With an analysis of the surveys conducted it was confirmed that most tourists visit this site by photos or videos posted on various digital platforms. For the development of this research, the following questions were formulated: How important is documentary photography as a tool for gastronomic tourism promotion? The following complementary questions were added: What is the current situation of tourism activity related to gastronomy in the Bajo Alto beach? What are the promotion trends related to gastronomic tourism? And what are the main characteristics of documentary photography to promote gastronomic tourism? These questions will make it possible to adapt a diagnosis of the object of study and, together with it, develop an action plan containing a product based on Bajo Alto's gastronomic promotion. As a product of the action plan, a photographic book was created based on the gastronomy of the aforementioned site. This digital magazine called "Bajo Alto flavors and traditions" will serve as a tool to strengthen gastronomic tourism in Bajo Alto beach, because it not only shows the typical dishes, but also the different raw materials used to prepare them. This product will serve as a precedent for restaurant owners to be motivated to frequently use social networks to advertise their services and promotions more directly, since social networks are currently a key element in society to maintain and disseminate an enterprise. This proposal was subjected to an evaluation by experts in the area of photography in order to determine the quality of the photographic content, book layout and relevance in the promotion of gastronomic tourism, on the other hand, an evaluation was conducted from the tourism department and the communication department of the Municipal Government of the canton of El Guabo to establish the importance of this communication product in the development of tourism in this site. To finalize this research, a focus group focused on tourists visiting this community was applied to identify perceptions and comments regarding the photobook and the impact it has on them. This evaluation allows to show the positive, negative and interesting of this product including recommendations, the same that will help future research can be developed in a better way and the gastronomic tourism of the Bajo Alto beach is disseminated through different social networks as these provide the opportunity for the audiovisual product created to reach other cities.