**1. Introduction**

Tourism has become one of the fastest growing industries in the world, creating millions of jobs, increasing global income, helping to curb inflation, and spurring the development of diverse infrastructure (Khan et al. 2021). Tourism now contributes 10.3% of global GDP and 319 million jobs, meaning one in ten jobs are attributed to this sector (Li et al. 2019; Tian et al. 2020; WTTC 2021). The popularity of tourist destinations is linked to demand for various resources and to the supply of accommodation, food, and various types of services (Becken et al. 2003; Becken et al. 2001). This implies the provision of significant logistics services and especially high energy demand. The latter is a serious impediment to the development of sustainable tourism, particularly in Latin America where a high proportion of tourist centers are located in rural areas with high poverty rates and little or no access to energy resources (Gössling 2010; Carbone 2005). The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) revealed that, in 2019, 30.8% of the population was below the poverty line, with 11.5% in a situation of extreme poverty (CEPAL 2019). This rate has increased considerably in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and ECLAC estimate that in 2020 the extreme poverty rate will stand at 12.5%, while the poverty rate will reach 33.7% (CEPAL 2021).

Accordingly, our main research question is the following: How might sustainable tourism, in terms of the use of renewable energy resources, influence the local development of the La Florida community?

**Citation:** Riojas-Díaz, Kiara, Ricardo Jaramillo-Romero, Fátima Calderón-Vargas, and David Asmat-Campos. 2022. Sustainable Tourism and Renewable Energy's Potential: A Local Development Proposal for the La Florida Community, Huaral, Peru. *Economies* 10: 47. https://doi.org/10.3390/ economies10020047

Academic Editors: Aleksander Panasiuk, Robert Czudaj and Ralf Fendel

Received: 10 November 2021 Accepted: 5 January 2022 Published: 9 February 2022

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Researchers involved in the development of sustainable technologies have begun to propose strategies (Calderón-Vargas et al. 2019; Calderón-Vargas et al. 2021) that can eliminate barriers to sustainability and to direct their interest toward the use of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. Alongside the development of sustainable infrastructure with an emphasis on energy demand issues (Nguyen and Su 2021), other researchers emphasize the need for tourism to be sustainable. An example of this is the use of renewable energy in tourist destinations (Nguyen and Su 2021; Gössling 2010; Le and Nguyen 2020).

Accordingly, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) describes sustainable tourism as a model of economic development conceived to improve the quality of life of the host community and to provide visitors with a high quality experience while maintaining the quality of the environment (Cardoso Jiménez 2006). Moreno Freites et al. (2019) argue that sustainable tourism means satisfying the needs of tourists and local development, minimizing poverty and exclusion, and ensuring the sustainable use of biodiversity without neglecting the protection of local values, customs, and historical context. Relevant strategies must thus be created to help reduce poverty. Sustainable tourism is a comprehensive scheme that must not only contribute to sustainability and present a sustainable tourism product but also generate local development.

Previous work emphasizes the importance of sustainable tourism in local development. Varisco, in his study of tourism and local development, highlighted the importance of the degree of endogeneity in tourism development processes, analyzing its impact on local development. He concluded that tourist activity contributes to local development but cannot be generated purely as an isolated activity (Varisco 2008). Likewise, Mora, in his study of local development and community tourism under globalization, examined the case of San Gerardo de Dota and concluded that the community is endowed with various types of endogenous resources that have the capacity to contribute economic value based on community capital (Mora Sánchez 2012). Consequently, Álvarez and Gil proposed tourism as an engine of economic growth in Colombia, since departmental public investment in tourism has contributed positively to GDP growth in each department (Álvarez Cáceres and Galvis 2019).

This study aims to measure the influence of sustainable tourism, in terms of the use of renewable energy resources, in motivating local development in the community of La Florida, Huaral, Peru and ensuring that it becomes a sustainable destination. It is important to note that tourism has already generated basic development in the community under study, producing both direct and indirect employment and forging an appreciation of the local customs and environment.
