Indicator System for Environmental Management to assess the tourism areas. Case study: Process of Environmental Impact Assessment in Holguin, Cuba

Abstract

Along the coastline of Holguin province it is developing the tourist destination of the North Atlantic coast, there are some others tourist resorts associated with the same beach name. New Pesquero with approximately 50% of its hotel infrastructure built and in operation. Since its projection, the environmental dimension to the Environmental Policy in Cuba has been included. Among the instruments of the country's environmental management process the Environmental Impact Assessment is declared, which has played a leading role, mainly in the regulation of processes and the prevention and monitoring environmental impacts from the projection, construction and to the exploitation of work projects. Since 1997 when  the investment process of the Tourist destination at New Pesquero started, it has been adopting different organizational structures to develop environmental management and has been implementing the Process of Environmental Impact Assessment, although  it had not been diagnosed how efficient and effective they are and their relationship, which is why research seeks to demonstrate the need for an Environmental Management approaching system at New Pesquero Tourist Destination, it can be measurable and can raise the efficiency and effectiveness of environmental management to date. To achieve this, some participatory workshops were held with experts and the implementation of the DAFO matrix, some efficiency and efficacy indicators were accomplished and their evaluation based on the Methodology for the Evaluation of Management Effectiveness in Protected Areas, the review of many official International documents and from Cuba and the world, also some control visits to the study area. It also supported research on photographic evidence. As a result of the implementation of each of the methodologies and techniques used were able to characterize the study area and identify major environmental problems and values developed at the tourist destination level specifically starting by the organizational structure and the Application Process of Environmental Impact Assessment based on the use of indicators designed and validated by experts, it also makes proposals for organizational principles, actors and measures for Environmental Management System in the Tourist Destination of  New Pesquero allowing the improvement of readily taken actions.