Eco-Productive Landscape of the Cocoa Coasts. Integral and Ecotourism Complex for the Sustainable Development of Cocoa Production in Choroní

This research project focuses on a case about heritage conservation in Choroní, a coastal town located on the slopes of the Henri Pittier National Park, with unique physical characteristics, and a historical and cultural richness of great importance for Venezuela. Its tourist demand has grown considerably in recent years; because of this, most of the productive cacao haciendas that have existed since the town's founding in the 16th century have been restructured into luxurious inns, with a few surviving under their original use. Therefore, the productive infrastructure that this community has to survive, together with its patrimonial inheritance, and its landscape richness, have been deteriorated, and in its vast majority, destroyed.
The focus of this work revolves around demonstrating the importance of these spaces due to their intrinsic patrimonial and landscape value, along with the opportunity to achieve the approach for efficient development in other economic-productive activities within the coastal town, opening the doors to research, education, cultural manifestations and, finally, to a responsible tourism that is characterized by, not only being developed in places of high value and attractiveness, but also by satisfying the needs and desires of the local population, the tourist and the industry.