Promises and pitfalls of ecotourism: patterns from a literature review

Morgane Voumard

doi:10.14198/INTURI2019.17.01

Autores/as

Morgane Voumard Universidad de las Islas Baleares, España

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14198/INTURI2019.17.01

Palabras clave:

gobernanza neoliberal, hegemonía cultural, neoliberalización de la naturaleza, desarrollo ecoturístico

Resumen

El ecoturismo teóricamente es aquel turismo en que el viaje se realiza de forma responsable a áreas naturales, lo que puede producir beneficios ambientales y sociales donde se realiza la actividad. Sin embargo, desde el ámbito académico se han realizado múltiples investigaciones que cuestionan esos supuestos beneficios y señalan los desiguales resultados asociados al ecoturismo. En ese sentido, dichos trabajos destacan la brecha existente entre unos resultados prometidos por el ecoturismo y los concretos resultantes de los proyectos ecoturísticos. Un número creciente de autores achaca dicha brecha a la naturaleza capitalista del ecoturismo y a su papel en el sostenimiento de la expansión del neoliberalismo. Es por ello que desde la academia se reclama más investigación sobre esta relación. Así, el objetivo de esta investigación es precisamente arrojar algo de luz sobre este tema, para lo que es necesario comprender e identificar los mecanismos que impiden la aplicación justa y equitativa de los principios del ecoturismo. Para ello, se lleva a cabo un estudio de diversos casos de estudio extraídos de la revisión bibliográfica, lo que permite evaluar y valorar el desarrollo ecoturístico en diferentes contextos y escalas, así como identificar obstáculos comunes. Los resultados confirman que parte de los impactos negativos derivados del desarrollo ecoturístico se deben a su vinculación con las políticas y prácticas neoliberales, con el desencadenamiento de los siguientes mecanismos: 1) extensión de la gobernanza neoliberal en detrimento de la autodeterminación de las comunidades locales, 2) modificación de la cultura local hacia lógicas de mercado y 3) la neoliberalización de la naturaleza bajo la forma de mercancía. Estos mecanismos a su vez, dan lugar a efectos sociales, políticos y ambientales negativos. Para reducir tales efectos, la población local debería empoderarse y ser capaz de decidir sobre la implantación o no del ecoturismo, excluyendo la dependencia respecto de los actores externos para evitar la hegemonía neoliberal.

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