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Turismo y Sociedad ISSN: 2346-206X [email protected] u.co Universidad Externado de Colombia Colombia Tsao Borrero, Juan Felipe Adventure Tourism Benchmark – Analyzing the Case of Suesca, Cundinama Turismo y Sociedad, vol. 13, -, 2012, pp. 209-226 Universidad Externado de Colombia Bogotá, Colombia Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=576261183015 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Abstract Adventure tourism is a growing sector within the tourism industry and understanding its JUAN FELIPE TSAO BORRERO dynamics is fundamental for adventure tou- Economista rism destinations and their local authorities. Universidad Javeriana Destination benchmarking is a strong tool to Colombia Máster en Economía del Turismo y identify the performance of tourism services del Medio Ambiente offered at the destination in order to design Universidad de las Islas Baleares appropriate policies to improve its competi- Palma de Mallorca, España [email protected] tiveness. The benchmarking study of Suesca, an adventure tourism destination in Colom- bia, helps to identify the gaps compared with successful adventure tourism destinations around the world, and provides valuable information to local policy-makers on the features to be improved. The lack of available information to tourists and financial facilities hinders the capability of Suesca to improve its competitiveness. Keywords: Adventure Tourism, Internal and External Benchmarking, Destination, Suesca. Resumen El turismo de aventura es un sector en cre- cimiento dentro de la industria turística y entender sus dinámicas es fundamental para los destinos de turismo de aventura y sus au- toridades locales. La evaluación comparativa ADVENTURE TOURISM (benchmarking) de los destinos es una fuerte BENCHMARk – ANALYZING herramienta para el diseño de políticas apro- THE CASE OF SUESCA, piadas para mejorar su competitividad. La CUNDINAMARCA evaluación comparativa de Suesca, un destino de turismo de aventura en Colombia, ayuda BENCHMARK DE TURISMO en la detección de las distancias comparativas DE AVENTURA – AnALIZANDO con destinos de turismo de aventura exitosos EL CASO DE SUESCA, alrededor del mundo, y provee información 1 CUNDINAMARCA valiosa a los formuladores de política en aquellas características a ser mejoradas. La falta de información disponible para los tu- ristas y de instalaciones financieras dificulta la capacidad de Suesca para mejorar su com- petitividad. Palabras clave: Turismo de aventura, Bench- 1 Fecha de recepción: 8 de octubre de 2012. marking interno y externo, Destino, Suesca. Fecha de modificación: 22 de octubre de 2012. Fecha de aceptación: 23 de octubre de 2012. Anuario Turismo y Sociedad, vol. XIII, noviembre 2012, pp. 209-226 209 y SOCIEDAD pi Rev Turismo y Sociedad 13_final.indb 209 5/17/13 4:17 PM Universidad Externado de Colombia Facultad de Administración de Empresas Turísticas y Hoteleras Introduction gether travel, sport and outdoor recreation, it can be considered as a subset of tourism with The tourism industry is one of the biggest eco- a component of experiential engagement that nomic sectors in the world, perhaps due to its distinct it from mainstream tourism. sustained growth for more than half a century. One of the highest growing subsectors of the Although benchmarking has been used since tourism industry is adventure tourism, with the early 1990´s, its application in the hospi- a total annual turnover of around one trillion tality and tourism industry is relatively new. dollars (BUCKLEY, 2009a). However, according to KOZAK (2004) two categories of benchmarking for the tourism Benchmarking is a relatively recent mana- industry are considered in terms of its “micro- gement methodology that has emerged to and macro-applications: organization ben- evaluate the weaknesses and strengths of chmarking and destination benchmarking”. companies, and to assess the comparative The micro-applications deal with particular advantages of leading competitors (WOBER, organizations, while the macro-application re- 2002), where a lot of managers today recog- lates with elements such as transport services, nize benchmarking as a useful process to airport services, accommodation services, lei- implement improvements that enhance the sure and sport facilities, among many others. performance of companies, but despite its popularity, “benchmarking lacks a rigorous foundation in management science” (WO- Methodology BER, 2002). The literature in benchmarking recommends Moreover, the application of benchmarking that tourism destinations start with internal exercises in the tourism industry is challen- benchmarking, then external and generic ben- ging, due to the complexities of the industry chmarking (MCNAIR and LEIBFRIED, 1992; itself. As KOZAK (2004) states, “destination ZAIRI, 1992; cited in KOZAK, 2004). benchmarking was neglected until the second half of the 1990s because the application of benchmarking to tourism and hospitality is Internal Benchmarking quite new”. Subsequently, the distinctiveness of adventure tourism implies different cha- In order to assess the demand component of llenges, and so, few benchmarking exercises the benchmarking exercise, an on-site survey have been implemented in the adventure to adventure travelers in Suesca was planned, tourism subsector. This study tries to fill that asking for several issues in adventure tourism gap, analyzing the case of Suesca, Colombia, in this destination, where a comparison bet- a well positioned adventure tourism destina- ween this one and other national and inter- tion, especially for rock climbers. national adventure tourism destinations was done. The main issues that are asked in the Adventure Tourism has gained wide spread survey were taken from the Adventure Travel attention around the world, and as ecotou- Development Index (ATDI), a study conducted rism and outdoor recreation, it also has been by Xola Consulting2, the George Washington increasingly commercialized. It includes University3 and the Adventure Travel Trade “all types of commercial outdoor tourism and recreation with a significant element of excitement” (BUCKLEY, 2010). According to 2 http://www.xolaconsulting.com/index.php HUDSON (2003), adventure tourism brings to- 3 http://www.gwu.edu/ Anuario Turismo y Sociedad, vol. XIII, noviembre 2012, pp. 209-226 210 y SOCIEDAD pi Rev Turismo y Sociedad 13_final.indb 210 5/17/13 4:17 PM Universidad Externado de Colombia Facultad de Administración de Empresas Turísticas y Hoteleras Association (ATTA)4. In order to calculate an conceptual framework (figure 1) and a model index for Suesca, only certain pillars were to assess the logistics management of tourism used, as some of them employ international destinations which are related to three main indexes that are not available for a small mu- aspects of performance, namely, physical nicipality such as Suesca (table 1). flows, financial flows, and information flows (table 2). Due to time and budget issues, only the pre- tests were carried out: a first pilot took place in June 2011, where 19 questionnaires were Partner Destinations answered, and a second pilot was carried put in July 2011, taking into account the results In external benchmarking, the term ‘host from the first pilot, where 21 surveys where destination’ means the destination whose answered. Although the sample size is not as performance is going to be assessed, whereas big as to allow the performance of statistical ‘partner destination’ is the one with which the analyses and tests, the information reported host is being benchmarked (KOZAK, 2004). by adventure tourists is valuable nonetheless. The key issue for defining a partner desti- nation is to choose those that are “perceived as offering a superior performance in some External Benchmarking respects” (PEARCE, 1997). The partner des- tinations chosen are Queenstown in New The instrument used to define the supply Zealand, The Central Valley Region in Costa benchmarks of adventure tourism is develo- Rica, and British Columbia in Canada. ped by UNTONG et al. (2011), who suggest a TABLE 1. Survey Framework Gender - Educational level Socio-demographic information City and country of residence - Age Comparison between Suesca and other adventure tourism destinations in Adventure tourism destinations issues such as prices, services, information and natural resources Additional Pillars Perception of tourists in issues of environmental practices and governmen- Sustainability tal support to adventure tourism activities Two indicators at the national level and the perception of a panel of experts Safety of the safety of adventure tourism destinations. Perception of a panel of experts about the quality and suitability of natural Natural Resources resources at the destination to practice adventure tourism activities. Addresses issues of appropriate soft and hard infrastructure for the adequate Infrastructure practice of adventure tourism through a survey to a panel of experts. ATDI Pillars ATDI Two international indexes and a survey to a panel of experts on their percep- Cultural Resources tion of the cultural richness of the destination. Only of the perception of a panel of experts of the destination as an adven- Image ture tourism destination. 4 http://www.adventuretravel.biz/ Anuario