Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Considering the significant rise urban tourism is currentlyexperiencing and the impact this activity generates in such environments,it is necessary to define sustainability indicatorsthat allow an efficient management of this activity. Withinthis field, the objective of this research study is to create aproposal for a system of sustainable tourism indicators forurban destinations. This applied investigation, which uses amethodology that combines both qualitative and quantitativeanalysis, stems from the conceptualization of urban tourismand ist sustainability and the implementation and quantificationof indicators. This initial analysis allows for the recognitionof the urban destinations’ sustainability dimensions andfor the variables with greater incidence in order to generatea first list of indicators. This first theoretical list of indicatorsis applied in four pilot cases (urban destinations of Catalonia:Barcelona, Tarragona, Lleida and Girona), and results in a testedsystem with four dimensions (socio-cultural, economic,environmental and institutional) which collect 26 indicators.The results show that the lack of information for the quantificationof indicators is one of the main limitations when itcomes to measuring tourism sustainability. For this reason,the constant cooperation between public administration andthe private sector is essential for the generation of data thatallows the implementation of the sustainability indicators,turning these into really useful tools in tourism planning andmanagement.

Several cities around the world are self-proclaimed "smart" by integrating, in varying degrees, new technologies in the different spheres of the city. Nevertheless, despite this effervescence around the smart city, the concept requires more conceptualization from the researchers. This is even more important when it comes time to distinguishing between smart city and smart destination. The relationship between these two concepts is blurred and the transition from the smart city to the smart destination is not automatic. This situation is explained by the fact that the intrinsic characteristics of their respective target populations, being the citizens and the tourists, are different. This article compares three Canadian cities in the province of Quebec with the aim of demonstrating that the realization of a smart destination project requires the adaptation of governance structure and the involvement of all the stakeholders and more particularly in tourism.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the opportunities that arise from the creation of products based on mobile technology that help to interpret the literary heritage in tourist destinations. In first place and as state of the art, a research about mobile applications in Edinburgh, which is a consolidated touristic literary destination, is carried out. The conclusions of this research, together with the principal ideas of the Educating Cities movement, let the authors value, from asocioeducative and touristic perspective, the viability and the opportunities that come from the creation of these products in the context of Barcelona.

Gastrodiplomacy is a concept with a high potential for different usages in both tourism studies as well as for social sciences and humanities at large. It describes the use of gastronomical and cuinary cultures for diplomatic goals. One of those usages is the ways it can inform gastronomical tourism projects that extend beyond gastro-nationalism and foster regional tourism. We discuss the ways the concept of gastrodiplomacy can be taken forward beyond its nationalistic tendencies in a global world. The methodology is composed of literature review and interviews with three prominent figures in tourism and gastrodiplomacy fields. We conclude with a creative visual exploration of how can this reconfiguration titled “gastrodiplomacy beyond nationalism” be used for enhancing regional tourism and cooperation efforts.

There are many types of tourism on offer in the world market, with tourism types being as diverse as the kind of experience that the visitor demands. Destinations characteristically engage in tourism models that cater to the needs and wants of the tourist market they attract. However, research and experience have shown that different tourism models affect the local people of a destination in different ways. For example, some models favor greater participation of historically marginalized communities than others. This paper focuses on two tourism models: ecotourism and community-based tourism. It is conceptual in nature and builds on previous academic research and secondary data in addressing the very topical theme of the use of ecotourism as a means of community development. It presents successful case studies of communitybased ecotourism, making particular reference to the indigenous populations of the Greater Caribbean to make these connections. There is reason to believe that the lessons derived from these case studies will be of interest and use to other indigenous communities in the Greater Caribbean and similar geographical regions in search of an alternative path of development that conserves natural areas while capitalizing on the opportunity for social welfare development and economic diversification for present as well as future generations.

Tourism is the most important economic activity in the Dominican Republic and quite well could – as it has been the successful experience of other touristic destinations – expand its positive effects towards higher equality in income distribution and also to reduce the levels of poverty. Given that tourism is the undefeatable engine of economic growth and, above all, an important source of employment with a vast impact on the local communities, it can and should contribute to improve the quality of life of the poorest segments of a country’s population by the means of an inclusive touristic development scheme. The model’s general strategy to move towards a new phase of competitive and sustained tourism development is outlined in the National Systemic Competitiveness Plan of the Dominican Republic (PNCS-RD), which was presented by the President Dr. Leonel Fernández on March 21st 2007. In this paper we present the general strategy for the diversification of the tourism development in the Dominican Republic.

Like many island economies, St. Kitts is at a crossroads. The acceleration of globalization and the decision of the European Union in 2005 to remove preferential treatment for its main industry, sugar cane, have left the island with limited options. Tourism has now become the key avenue for economic growth. Destinations go through various cycles, both popular and unstable, which are affected by market and tourism trends as well environmental and social factors. For many tourism destinations, especially islands, there is intense competition and weak differentiating factors and the product has become commoditized. As tourism has been put forth as the key driver for economic growth and sustainability within the island, long term strategies need to be put in place to adapt to changing trends and markets. There is a need for strong governance and resource management using an integrated and holistic framework. The destination life cycle model provides a useful framework for a discussion of the factors which inhibit sustainable tourism development in islands and various measures that are needed to ensure a stable economy. St. Kitts will be used as a specific case to illustrate these factors in an island context.

Tourism is an economic activity that influences virtually every corner of the contemporary world. This study focuses on tourism development in Belize where in a short period of time the national government has shifted from virtually ignoring tourism to making it a national priority for economic development. This paper adopts an historical perspective to describe the political economy of tourism development in Belize in the latter half of the twentieth century. It begins by establishing a political economy framework for analyzing tourism development. With this in place, tourism in Belize is discussed through four major stages. The stages primarily reflect the role of the state with respect to tourism, which were in part established based on the attitudes toward tourism, tourism numbers, as well as on the development of tourism infrastructure within the country. In this sense, the paper is seen as a contribution to public policy that sees tourism as one means for economic development, but one that will be reliant on policy and economic initiatives that are external to local communities.

Within the international regional cooperation activities of the Coastal Practice Network (CoPraNet), an INTERREG IIIC network project, the development of a transparent international quality programme for sustainable coastal tourism destinations – QualityCoast – has been achieved. QualityCoast Programme for coastal tourism destinations certifies a municipality, county or region that proves to be actively working towards more responsible and sustainable management. The implementation of the QualityCoast Programme is determined using a series of QualityCoast Milestones (QCMs), which indicate the quality of information available to visitors. The QCMs are grouped into the thematic areas of nature, carrying capacity, water and environmental quality and socioeconomics. A category entitled ‘other’ is also incorporated to allow the inclusion of criteria relevant to particular areas, which are not covered by the four primary themes. This paper presents the QualityCoast Programme, one of the key contributions and results of the CoPraNet project and, in particular, the results of pilot activities undertaken in different areas of Fuerteventura Island, Canary Islands and in Calvià Municipality, Balearic Islands, both mature sun and beach destinations in Spain. It has been found that the implementation of this certification scheme can be of interest for this type of destination.

Many developing countries consider promoting tourism as a main strategy for achieving economic growth. The tourism sector at destinations is mainly organized through micro and small-scale enterprises. In developing countries, these lack access to credit and other finance: financial markets do not consider them as clients and government support is mainly aimed at attracting foreign direct investments (FDI), not oriented towards expansion of domestic business in tourism. Financial sector modernization in some developing countries has been pushed in recent years through so-called Microfinance Institutions (MFIs). These deliver credit to micro- and small enterprises and contribute to poverty reduction by providing poor people access to financial services. Until now, in tourism destinations, these MFIs do not seem to close this aforementioned finance gap in supply and demand for finance. Given their lack of access to credit, domestic (tourism) micro- and small enterprises in developing countries are unable to compete against large international suppliers of accommodation and tourism services. As a consequence, the potential of positive local economic impacts from growth through tourism is not fully used in most developing countries. Further research is required to develop appropriate (tailor- made) financial instruments that fit the needs of these tourism micro- and small enterprises. These should include investment subsidies, tax measures, long-term loans, and leasing and insurance products. Commercial banks could play a leading role in innovating financial markets in tourism destinations, and make use of the experience of MFIs when it comes to uncollateralized lending techniques. Governments in developing countries that emerge as tourism destinations should facilitate the reform of their domestic financial sector and the delivery of specific financial products oriented towards micro and small-scale tourism enterprises. This could well be done through specific credit lines, just like agricultural and industrial development banks that have supported agribusiness and industrial development in the past.