Methodological elements to assess tourism sustainability in the Colombian Caribbean

Abstract

This paper reflects on how to evaluate the sustainability of tourist activities developed in coastal territories of the Colombian Caribbean, doing it through a descriptive methodological scope and a qualitative approach. In this way, the authors combine their expertise on the topic and the analysis of specialized scientific literature, to elaborate a state of the art of the topic and to describe in detail the steps that must be followed in a process of this type. The developed state of the art is organized into four thematic lines related to the characterization of beaches, sustainability of tourist activities, evaluation of the impacts generated in/by them and the existing methodologies for their estimation or measurement. Likewise, the methodological elements proposed for the measurement of sustainability are grouped into two phases: the first, related to adaptation, and the second, concerning the implementation of the system of indicators required to assess sustainability. Finally, the conclusions emphasize at the usefulness and relevance of this work as a preliminary initiative that will contribute to the development of empirical research on the topic and the strengthening of tourism planning processes from the local perspective.