Cultural tourism from the regenerative paradigm
Abstract
Tourism is a complex activity that generates economic benefits; consequently, its dynamics impact almost all activities in the place where it is located. It also boosts the commercialization of the community's cultural elements, redefining them as attractions that shape a tourist destination. This appears plausible, but certain types of profit-driven management prioritize the economic aspect, leading to side effects such as overcrowding and intensive exploitation. This pressures the environment and tears apart the social fabric, the consequences of which compromise the integrity of cultural heritage, and lacks a comprehensive long-term vision.
In light of the impacts of mass tourism, we propose a transition from sustainable tourism to an emerging paradigm centered on regenerative processes. Therefore, regenerative tourism "aims to go beyond sustainable tourism, with a holistic and integrative approach, whose main goal is the environmental and social restoration of territories."
A review of the literature makes it clear that regenerative tourism is a creative proposal capable of overcoming the limitations of sustainable tourism through a primarily environmental approach. To support its theoretical construction, the objective of this research is to analyze cultural tourism from the regenerative tourism paradigm, focusing on cultural ecosystems rather than merely ecological ones.
This study is explanatory with a qualitative approach; it offers a general proposal where specific references are derived from documentary research and contrasted with a case study located in the municipality of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico.
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