CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2023
| Author | Di Bella Diaz De Leon, Mariana |
|---|---|
| Title | Towards Socially Sustainable Tourism in Guanajuato, Mexico: A Resident-Centric Approach |
| Summary | In recent years, the tourism sector has become increasingly relevant in a global scale. International arrivals reached a historical peak in 2019, with millions of people traveling to participate in leisure, cultural, and authentic experiences. As a result, the concept of overtourism reemerged in the last decade to explain the negative impact, challenges and issues that derive from massive tourism. Simultaneously, plans to better manage the economic, social, and environmental elements in tourism became more popular under the idea of sustainability. This thesis explores how the tourism strategy in the city of Guanajuato, Mexico can be more socially sustainable, prioritizing the wellbeing of its residents and the preservation of their heritage. This research can be divided in two parts. The first part covers the concepts of cultural tourism, overtourism, and sustainable tourism from the academic and institutional perspectives. Additionally, it presents the most relevant heritage elements of Guanajuato City in relation to tourism, including the city center and the adjacent mines. The second part introduces the main trends and challenges that result from tourism in the city, such as garbage management, traffic, increasing costs of living, and access to water. Moreover, it provides an analysis of the government tourism strategy, which demonstrates that while there is important progress in the aspect of sustainable tourism, the current strategy prioritizes the economic angle over the social and environmental elements. Lastly, the thesis provides a set of recommendations to strengthen socially sustainable tourism strategies in Guanajuato, involving citizen participation and a Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach in order to foster the well-being of the city’s residents. |
| Supervisor | Choyke, Alice |
| Department | Medieval Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2023/bella-diaz_mariana.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University