Cultural Value of Totora Reed Craftsmanship and Perception of Tourists Visiting the Uros Floating Islands of the Peruvian Altiplano-2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71112/q9z34m42Keywords:
handicrafts, culture, perception, tourism, valueAbstract
The Peruvian highlands are a tourist and cultural area of great importance, driven by Lake Titicaca and by artisanal practices that express the identity of the communities. Totora reed craftsmanship is one of the most representative cultural expressions of the Uros people. The study aimed to determine its cultural value and analyze the perception of tourists who visit the Floating Islands of the Uros. A mixed approach was used: qualitatively, semi-structured interviews and participant observation were applied to local artisans, analyzed with Atlas.ti; quantitatively, Likert scale surveys were conducted with domestic and foreign tourists, evaluating experience, perception, satisfaction, and intention to recommend. The results show that totora reed craftsmanship is a living cultural heritage that preserves ancestral knowledge and strengthens the local economy. It is concluded that it transcends its material function, being key to the cultural identity of sustainable tourism.
Downloads
References
Albuquerque, UP, Nóbrega Alves, RR, y Ferreira Júnior, WS (2025).
El desafío contemporáneo para la investigación ética que involucra el conocimiento de los pueblos indígenas y las comunidades locales, así como de los afrodescendientes y otros grupos marginados, minoritarios o minorizados. Revista de Etnobiología y Etnomedicina, 21 (1), Artículo 774.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-025-00774-4
Bec, A., Moyle, B., Timms, K., Schaffer, V., Skavronskaya, L., & Little, C. (2021). Management of immersive heritage tourism experiences: A conceptual model. Tourism Management, 86, 104345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104345
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021). To saturate or not to saturate? Questioning data saturation as a useful concept for thematic analysis and sample-size rationales. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 13(2), 201–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2019.1704846
Campos, A., Mendes, J., do Valle, P. O., & Scott, N. (2024). Co-creation of the tourist experience. Tourism Management Perspectives, 51, 101212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2023.101212
Cheer, J. M. (2020). Human flourishing, tourism transformation and COVID-19: A conceptual touchstone. Tourism Geographies, 22(3), 514–524. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2020.1765016
Chen, H., & Rahman, I. (2021). Cultural tourism: An analysis of engagement, cultural contact, memorable experiences and destination loyalty. Tourism Management Perspectives, 37, 100781. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2020.100781
Duxbury, N., Bakas, F. E., de Castro, T. V., & Silva, S. (2021). Creative tourism development models towards sustainable and regenerative tourism. Sustainability, 13(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010002
Efthimiou, S. G. (2025). The trends of tourism sector after COVID-19 period. *Central Balkan Review, 6*(1), Article 12. https://doi.org/10.22495/cbsrv6i1art12
Farmaki, A. (2021). Memoria y olvido en la investigación de crisis turísticas. Gestión Turística, 83, Artículo 104210.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104210
Goh, H. C., & Hussin, H. (2025). Stakeholders’ perspectives of intangible cultural heritage tourism: A systematic review. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 64, 101303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2025.101303
Gonzales Cabrera, S. T., Panca Humpiri, L. V., & Calsin Turpo, J. R. (2023). Perspectiva de reactivación turística peruana basada en los principios de la sostenibilidad de destinos en tiempos de pandemia. *Ateliê Geográfico, 17*(2), 58–75. https://doi.org/10.5216/ag.v17i2.73968
Gössling, S., Scott, D., & Hall, C. M. (2020). Pandemics, tourism and global change. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2020.1758708
Hall, C. M., Scott, D., & Gössling, S. (2020). Pandemics, transformations and tourism. Tourism Geographies, 22(3), 577–598. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2020.1759131
Hu, Y. (2025). The influence of exhibition interactivity on tourist satisfaction and loyalty. Sustainability, 17(17), 7720. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17177720
Lew, A. A., Cheer, J. M., Haywood, M., Brouder, P., & Salazar, N. B. (2020). Visions of travel and tourism after COVID-19. Tourism Geographies, 22(3), 455–466. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2020.1770326
Luo, L., Chen, J., Cheng, Y., & Cai, K. (2024). Empirical Analysis on Influence of Authenticity Perception on Tourist Loyalty in Historical Blocks in China. Sustainability, 16(7), 2799. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16072799
Manojlović, M., Stanovčić, T. y Perović, Đ. (2025).
Efectos de la experiencia del turismo cultural en el comportamiento turístico: EnSAGE Open . https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251397318
Maussa Pérez, F. O., & Montes Hincapié, J. M. (2023). Patrimonio cultural inmaterial y ecosistemas creativos: una revisión de literatura. Revista Finanzas y Política Económica, 15(2), 517–535. https://doi.org/10.14718/revfinanzpolitecon.v15.n2.2023.9
Naeem, M., Ozuem, W., Howell, K. y Ranfagni, S. (2024).
Desmitificación y actualización de la saturación de datos en la investigación cualitativa mediante el análisis temático. Revista Internacional de Métodos Cualitativos, 23, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069241229777
Onwuegbuzie, AJ, Forzani, E. y Corrigan, JA (2023).
Una revisión sistemática completamente integrada de la investigación basada en diseño con métodos mixtos. Journal of Mixed Methods Studies, 8 , 24–51.
https://doi.org/10.59455/jomes.34
Qin, L., & Zhang, H. (2025). Impact of rich cultural tourism experience on tourist satisfaction and behavioral intentions. PLOS ONE, 20(11), e0336220. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0336220
Qiu, N., Wu, J., Li, H., Pan, C. y Guo, J. (2025). Relación entre la autenticidad percibida, el apego al lugar y el comportamiento ambiental de los turistas en el patrimonio industrial. Sustainability, 17 (11), 5152.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su17115152
Rasoolimanesh, S. M., Seyfi, S., Rastegar, R., & Hall, C. M. (2022). Destination image during crises. Tourism Management Perspectives, 43, 100996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2022.100996
Rasoolimanesh, S. M., Seyfi, S., Rather, R. A., & Hall, C. M. (2021). Investigating the mediating role of visitor satisfaction in the relationship between memorable tourism experiences and behavioral intentions in heritage tourism context. Tourism Review. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-02-2021-0086
Rickly, J. (2021). Authenticity and tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 86, 103059. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2020.103059
Sigala, M. (2020). Tourism and COVID-19. Journal of Business Research, 117, 312–321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.06.015
Wang, J. (2025). The intangible cultural heritage of local tourism through spatial distribution characteristics. Computational Urban Science, 5, 68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43762-025-00228-3
Yang, L., Hu, X., Lee, HM y Zhang, Y. (2023).
Los impactos de la autenticidad percibida y el valor percibido de los ecoturistas Sostenibilidad, 15 (2), 1551. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021551
Yi, X. (2025). Investigating the impact of tourists’ perceived authenticity and aesthetics on word-of-mouth in cultural heritage sites. Tourism Management, 111, 105167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2025.105167
Zenker, S. y Kock, F. (2020). El coronavirusGestión Turística, 81, 104164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104164
Zhou, G., Chen, W. y Wu, Y. (2022). Investigación sobre el efecto de la autenticidad en la intención de revisitar en el turismo patrimonial. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 883380. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.883380
Zhu, P. (2025). Experience economy and authenticity in heritage tourism: A multi-dimensional approach. Acta Psychologica, 257, 105118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105118
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Jaime Huaracha Velasquez, Rosario Maria Mamani Miranda, Ivan Grover Sanchez Mamani (Autor/a)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
