Geotourism as a tool for local and social development requires evaluating how geology is perceived by society and how the geology can contribute to solve society’s needs and perspectives. This research is the result of a survey undertaken in the “Litoral del Biobío” geopark project (Chile) from April to September 2019. This survey consists of over 400 people and is a direct geoturistic demoscopic study on local communities. It covers a large diversity of social setting (ranging from urban to rural indigenous) and also a diverse level of education.

Salient points of the results includes more than 80% of the community are aware of the sites of tourist interest in their community, while less than 20% recognize the geology and/or geosites of the territory. The need for economic development (21%) and tourism in natural areas (82.5%) stand out as the main tourism focus and tool for generating sustainable economic resources for the territory. Geodiversity and geotourism play an important role (48.1%), but are subordinate to biodiversity (76.7%) in the territory. Furthermore, geotourism is far from the perceptions of crime (23%), given that it is still a minority tourism sector. Finally, there is a certain level of resignation in the community regarding the medium-term development of its territory (52%), with education on geological and environmental risks (77%) being one of the main priorities.

This study shows that, although there are basic needs to be covered in the territory, such as security and public infrastructure, there is also a great interest in developing tourism in natural areas. In this scenario, geotourism becomes relevant as a tool that can contribute to local sustainable economic development, education on geological risks, awareness of the geological value of the territory, as well as the revaluation of the cultural heritage in the study area.

地质旅游作为当地和社会发展的一种工具，需要评估社会如何看待地质以及地质如何有助于解决社会的需求和观点。这项研究是2019 年 4 月至 9 月在“ Litoral del Biobío ”地质公园项目（智利）中进行的调查的结果。该调查由 400 多人组成，是对当地社区的直接地理人口学研究。它涵盖了多种多样的社会环境（从城市到农村土著）以及多样化的教育水平。

结果的要点包括超过 80% 的社区知道他们社区中的旅游景点，而只有不到 20% 的人知道该地区的地质和/或地质景点。经济发展 (21%) 和自然地区旅游业 (82.5%) 的需求是主要的旅游重点和为该地区创造可持续经济资源的工具。地质多样性和地质旅游发挥着重要作用（48.1%），但在领土内从属于生物多样性（76.7%）。此外，地质旅游与犯罪的看法相去甚远（23%），因为它仍然是一个少数民族旅游部门。最后，社区对其领土的中期发展有一定程度的放弃（52%），地质和环境风险教育（77%）是主要优先事项之一。

这项研究表明，虽然领土内有基本的需求，例如安全和公共基础设施，但对在自然地区发展旅游业也有很大的兴趣。在这种情况下，地质旅游作为一种有助于当地可持续经济发展、地质风险教育、领土地质价值意识以及研究区文化遗产重估的工具变得相关。