Author(s)

I. De Aranzabal, P. Aguilera, A. Rescia, M.F. Schmitz & F.D. Pineda

Abstract

Tourism has become much more relevant than the mere complement to local and national economies. Its development requires an environmental rationality, land planning and management which must be \“ecologically feasible, economically convenient and culturally desirable”. This implies a positive balance between costs and benefits, long-term persistence and the compromise to protect and value cultural heritage and traditional activities. We adapted procedures already applied in previous EIA studies. Using a GIS as a technical support, we mapped the risks and potentialities of the tourist activities associated with different types of visitors previously detected and classified by means of surveys. We carried out i) an ecological analysis and description of the territory in order to identify uniform environmental sectors, ii) a previous standardization of the demand for tourism, iii) analysis of the interaction of these tourism types with the territorial ‘offer’ and, iv) quantification of the degree of satisfaction of the visitors. All of this allowed for the classification of these according to their recreational interests in the territory and the activities they are involved. The territory is the reception space for these activities. It reacts ‘negatively’ or ‘positively’ according to its carrying capacity. This was the basis for the characterization of the ‘potentiality’ or ‘risk’ of the territorial sectors for the different types of tourism considered.

Keywords