System of indicators for the management of sustainable tourism in the tourist destination of Acapulco, Guerrero, (México)

Abstract

Indicator systems are a very useful tool when it comes to managing and planning tourism activity, since they help us describe reality through objective parameters. These indicators are not only able to represent reality, but also to monitor their evolution to thereby apply the necessary strategies in the future.

These characteristics make them ideal instruments for the measurement of tourism sustainability from a holistic perspective since they meet a system of multidisciplinary indicators that try to assess the impact generated by tourism. It is because of that indicator systems provide a framework for tourism managers to facilitate the incorporation of sustainability in the decision process. In this investigation we propose the realization of a system of indicators since at the local level the tourist destination of Acapulco does not have a clear methodology for the measurement of tourism. In this context, this system of indicators was carried out taking as reference the model (PER) Pressure-State-Response, proposed by the OECD, covering the three dimensions of tourism sustainability (environmental, economic and social). With a total of 44 indicators.