Galapagos, Nature, Heritage, and Contemplation

When we hear of the Galapagos Islands, we think of a place of natural conservation and biological diversity, with the archipelago having been a World Heritage Site since 1978 and a Biosphere Reserve since 1984, expanding its area in 2019. In this study, while exploring the islands, we found that some places brought us spiritual delight, fostered internal recollection, and promoted reflection. Both islanders and tourists visited and evaluated these places using conceptual and combined methodological tools to determine which of these places constituted contemplation sites. The results allowed for a variety of sites that generate new experiences, imagination, spatial holograms, and mental routes for a user to identify, which allows for the creation of new recommended tourist routes and the categorization of intangible heritage, which can be potentiated by the community and tourists in a controlled manner, as indicated by this research.