Benefits and repercussions of large-scale tourism in Central America, a proactive approach to integration through quality as a strategy for tackling the problems arising from it

Abstract

Tourism is a socio-economic activity of high transformative value, whose revenues and benefits are undeniable in Central America and worldwide. Its operation requires not always positive changes in land use, urbanisation processes and in the socio-cultural relations of host communities, which raises criticisms about the repercussions of large-scale tourism in particular. This article opens the discussion on the possibilities of a solution from a regional integration strategy; to this end, it resorts to socio-critical theory that establishes a balance between the positive and negative positions of tourism in the region and to the qualitative approach for the subsequent proposal of a solution based on quality, as a preamble to the organisation of large-scale tourism activity, which facilitates the development of sustainable and inclusive tourism and allows its benefits to be extended to the entire Central American region.