Diversification in Tourism-Related Activities and Social Sustainability in the State of Hidalgo, Mexico

The objective of this paper is to explore the empirical relationships between the economic diversification of tourism-specific products (TSPs) and human development (as a key piece of social sustainability) at the sub-state level using the scenario of the State of Hidalgo in the year 2014 (the most...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSustainability Vol. 11; no. 22; p. 6429
Main Authors Hernández-Calzada, Martín Aubert, Pérez-Hernández, Carla Carolina, Ferreiro-Seoane, Francisco Jesús
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.11.2019
Subjects
Diversification
Economic activity
Economic diversification
Economic growth
Ecotourism
Employment
Entropy (Information theory)
Human Development Index
Literature reviews
Municipalities
Political power
Quality of life
Rural areas
Social sustainability
Society
Sustainability
Sustainable development
Tourism
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Summary:The objective of this paper is to explore the empirical relationships between the economic diversification of tourism-specific products (TSPs) and human development (as a key piece of social sustainability) at the sub-state level using the scenario of the State of Hidalgo in the year 2014 (the most recent period available) as the context for the study. The first step was to develop an algebraic analysis using the reflection method (RM) to map, for the first time, the diversity and ubiquity of the municipalities of Hidalgo in relation to tourism-related activities in the region. Secondly, additional diversity proxy measures were calculated, namely Shannon’s entropy and the Hirshman–Herfindalhl index, using employment data derived from the TSPs. This allowed us to run a series of regressions that show the explanatory power of the diversification of tourism-related activities on human development. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that the diversification of tourism activities within the analyzed context is essential for social sustainability, which frames the relevance of tourism to promote the development of the region. Finally, it is noted that one of the greatest contributions of this research is the provision of empirical evidence regarding the diversity of the TSPs in a specific context, because given the peculiar structure of tourism, it is not easy to quantify the diversification of the tourism sector in an economy.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su11226429