*4.2. Sociocultural Aspect*

Socioculturally, tourism activity should be directed to empower local communities and endogenous peoples and to facilitate their participation in tourism planning and development (Urkullo 2015). The UNWTO argues that this ensures respect for the sociocultural authenticity of host communities, helping to conserve cultural and architectural assets and traditional values while contributing to intercultural understanding and tolerance (UNWTON 2021). Thus, to achieve local development, the preservation and revaluation of customs must also be taken into account. In this vein, 55.1% of La Florida's residents indicated having had positive interactions with tourists in their community, which enhances their awareness of the value of their endogenous customs. Moreover, 92.8% of residents indicated that said tourist activity in their community significantly promotes and influences the valuation of their culture and customs (Table 3). Finally, 84.2% of residents indicated that tourism in their community encourages respect and tolerance for interculturality. To this end, awareness workshops are planned to help spread their culture and traditions.


**Table 3.** Promotion of interculturality, valuation of culture, and interaction with tourists.

Source: Prepared by the research team on the basis of data from the survey of La Florida's residents.

It is well appreciated that local populations take initiative to continuously undertake activities that elevate their culture, customs, and cultural manifestations, thus helping to strengthen their identity and endogenous customs and encouraging the revaluation of their traditions. The World Tourism Charter indicates that tourism activity must be directed to empowering local communities and indigenous peoples and to facilitating their participation in the planning and development of tourism (Urkullo 2015). Thus, in destination management, it is necessary to ensure the revaluation of culture. This applies in places where tangible and intangible cultural heritage coexist, which is the most important cultural tourist resource (Lin et al. 2021) and where the cultural aspect is the main inspiration of the visitor to learn, discover, experience, and consume the cultural heritage of their destination (Liu 2020). The development of a sustainable cultural tourism policy may thus be a practical way to foster a new business model that increases employment and promotes the conservation of heritage landscapes (Aquino et al. 2018). Notably, and pertinently to the alliance between tourism and culture in Peru, the UNWTO states that society, culture, and tourism maintain a symbolic relationship. Artistic and craft activities, dance, rituals, and legends that run the risk of falling into oblivion among new generations can be reactivated if tourists show great interest in them (OMT 2016).
