HERRAMIENTAS PARA EL TURISMO RURAL COMO ESTRATEGIA DE DESARROLLO SOSTENIBLE PARA COLOMBIA, ESPECIALMENTE PARA LAS CIUDADES DE PITALITO Y SAN AGUSTÍN

One of the most powerful expressions of modern society is tourism (Pérez de las Heras, 2004). Despite the fact that travel has existed in all stages of the development of humanity, was only until the twentieth century during the post-war period, which was established by mass tourism and this time conditions, can be increased leisure time, available income, the right to paid holidays, improvements in transpor-tation and communications, evolve in the course of time and now enjoy tourism (Monfor Mir, 2000).Regarding Colombia tourism develops in the protected areas of the National Parks System, this article identifies the tools to motivate ecotourism so that the regions of Pitalito and San Agustin, can offer competitive products, environmentally sustainable, socially, economically and culturally, that generate benefits for local communities and for its own preservation.