Alternative tourism development index: Review and implications

Abstract

Alternative tourism contributes to the sustainable development of tourism and, among other things, to the active participation of communities in the management of tourism development in their territories, for which it is considered necessary to study the concept, characteristics and benefits of alternative tourism, as well as its relationship with sustainable development and tourist competitiveness, which lead to a methodology to evaluate the potential of a territory as an alternative tourism destination. The main objective of this study is to design an Index of Sustainable Development in Alternative Tourism (IDSTA) based on the indicators of tourist competitiveness that are focused on the dimensions of sustainable development, as a tool for identifying the capacities of an associated territory to the development of alternative tourism. This index was validated in a country considered an emerging destination and its different regions (departments or states). The main findings indicate that at the country level, the territory is suitable for the development of alternative tourism, while the analysis by grouping of departments (cluster analysis) shows three large groups, the first with optimal conditions for the development of alternative tourism , the second has a medium level and, the last group must strengthen its characteristics for alternative tourism.