Evidencias de saturación turística en la isla de San Andrés: percepción de los residentes

Abstract

In just seven years, between 2014 and 2021, the number of visitors to the island of San Andrés increased by 50%, going from 733,000 tourists a year to more than one million. On average, more than 3,000 tourists arrive on the island daily and 58% of departmental income is from tourism. But this growth in visits has generated strong environmental and social pressures on the island territory. With a sanitary landfill on the verge of reaching the top of its storage capacity, a shortage of potable water to supply the community and the recurring overflow of sewers, the discontent of the resident population is inevitable, which mostly lives on tourism, but must face the consequences of its rapid increase. Through the application of 382 surveys, the perception of tourism of the residents of the island of San Andrés is investigated. This having as reference dimensions associated with the social costs and economic benefits of tourism; environmental sustainability; long-term planning and customer satisfaction, all from the point of view of the host population. Additionally, the analysis is segmented around age variables; residence time on the island; ethnicity and educational level of the respondent to identify which of these variables influences the community's perception of this activity the most.

Keywords

• tourism
• Overtourism
• tourist saturation
• San Andrés Island
• resident perception