Definition of a proposal for functional tourist use for the Sancti Spíritus municipality, Cuba

Abstract

Currently, the Cuban tourism sector is committed to achieving greater diversification of its products, adopting a sustainable perspective.  In accordance with the country's Economic and Social Development Plan until 2030, it is necessary to seek strategies that allow the tourism value of the resources in the territories.  In this scenario, the present research is developed, whose general objective is to define a proposal for functional tourist use for the municipality of Sancti Spíritus, a developing tourist destination that has accumulated great experience in receiving and serving a considerable number of visitors, but despite having attractions with great sociocultural impact, the offer of tourist activities is not so diverse and attractive.  This has led to the number of international tourists and the income derived from tourism being relatively lower compared to neighboring cities such as Trinidad and Camagüey.  The applied methodology combines the use of different methods, techniques and tools, such as documentary analysis, the analytical-synthetic method, unstructured interviews, brainstorming, mathematical statistical methods and the application of a Focus Group.  This allowed the authors to define a sustainable proposal, based on three tourism modalities to be developed with the design of two activities related to each one, as well as to identify the potential and limitations of each resource for its real implementation.  In addition, it made it possible to diagnose the current conditions of the municipality, taking into account the local offer, infrastructure, support and tourist services.