Abstract
The article is aimed at evaluating the sustainability of a tourist destination with a focus on processes, having as its foundation the experiences in the business sector referred to in the consulted scientific literature. The main research techniques used to conduct the study were a comparative analysis, descriptive statistics analysis, and the Delphi method. The main results obtained are related to understanding and recognizing destinations as a systemic organization, which supports the justification of adapting and conceptualizing the foundations of the process approach. This led to the proposal of a procedure that allows for the integration of multiple actors of different natures and the stakeholders in the evaluation of tourism sustainability in destinations. The evaluation process was carried out in the Historic Center of Havana and made it possible to identify the current weaknesses in achieving the sustainability of the model based on the processes evaluated, defining areas of action in an environment of improvement.
TopIntroduction
In the field of sustainability, the specialized literature shows some concern regarding the integration among the global, regional and national levels of planning (Gunn 1977; Getz, 1986). In the tourism industry, the evaluation of sustainability, as well as the co-creation of added value, is of paramount importance to develop smarter and more resilient destinations (Gossling 2017). At a closer look, the term sustainability was originally well-grounded in a solid foundation capable to be articulated with development programs, deficiencies persist in putting it into practice due to the complexity of the interrelationships between its different dimensions. What seems to be equally important, these interactions are manifested in all phases of the destination management process resulting in the complexity of the diagnosis to optimize the relevant decision-making process (Torres, 2016; Um, 2010 Ramos and Caeiro, 2010; Pulido and Sánchez, 2009; Pérez and Nel-lo, 2009; Pérez et. Al, 2009; Blancas et al., 2009 Martínez, López, and Santos, 2007; Choi and Sirikaya, 2005).
Based on previous models and taking into account their shortcomings (Leiper, 1979; Miossec, 1997; Mill and Morrison, 2002; McKercher, 2004), Martín (2006) proposes a pentagonal model that defines three major dimensions of the tourism system: the exogenous subsystems (tourist environment), the endogenous subsystems (tourism) and the macro environment (general environment), which are related to each other in a process called tourism dynamics, which leads to responses or impacts. These responses or impacts that take place in tourism dynamics are still very difficult to analyze with the prevailing models, methods and tools to assess sustainability in a destination (Palomeque et al., 2018; Torres, 2016; Vera et al., 2013; Velasco, 2011; Ávila & Barrado, 2005).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Historic Center of Havana: It is known as well as old Havana, this is part of Havana City where dwelled the colonial authorities.
Sustainability: The term is used to denote those practices to sustain, protect or care the non-renewable resources for future generations.
Process Approach: It represents a set of ideas that explains how change ultimately develops.
Procedure: It is a set of actions happening underway at the same moment with the same goal.
Evaluation: This is defined as a process applied to test some theories or hypothesis.