Tourism Sustainability Indicators: a methodological application for Galápagos destination – Ecuador

• Autor(a) principal: Saeteros, Angelica
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Silva, Edson Vicente da, Nuñez, Diego Paul Viteri
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: spa
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Ecoturismo
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.unifesp.br/index.php/ecoturismo/article/view/10362
• topic: Índice de sustentabilidad, turismo, monitoreo, Galápagos; Sustainability Index, tourism, monitoring, Galápagos

Tourism is an economic activity considered an excellent alternative for the development of destinations. However, economic activities are those that cause the most negative impact on the environment, so it is necessary to take actions to promote the sustainable development of destinations. The sustainability indicators constitute a development tool capable of providing information for the destinations' planning. The goal of this research is to develop a proposal allowing us to know the sustainability degree of tourist activity in Galapagos. For this, 71 indicators grouped into dimensions were selected: 19 environmental, 30 economic, 9 social, 9 political, and 4 technological. Through the use of the multi-criteria analysis technique of programming by goals, the Galapagos sustainability index was identified, which is below the desired values. The least distance is registered for the political dimension, while environmental issues register a greater distance. This situation occurs due to the accelerated growth of tourism that has caused greater migratory flows, pressure on natural resources, and the permanent danger of the exotic species' introduction putting the conservation of the Galapagos ecosystems at risk. Therefore, the authorities must establish policies and actions that minimize impacts and guarantee sustainability for the future.