Tourism awareness as a tourism development strategy: status of the issue

Abstract

Objective: Tourism has become the main engine of economic, social and environmental development in several countries, so promoting tourism awareness among tourists and the local population should be a priority. The present study aims to suggest a status of the research carried out on the topic of tourism awareness. Design / methodology / approach: The type of analysis is through a retrospective and exploratory bibliometric study. The analysis materials were scientific articles and a training manual published between 2000 and 2020, registered by Scopus, Emerald insight and Dialnet, using “tourism awareness” as the keyword. Results: When considering the three senses in which tourism awareness ought to operate, it is concluded that studies are more focused on the relationship and contact of the host community with the tourist. It is observed that four out of six articles in this sense consider that education, training, and government policies around tourism awareness should be developed in a better way in the destinations, in order to be an element that contributes to the development of communities and reduces poverty in developing countries. Study limitations / implications: It is considered a limitation not to include thesis dissertations. Findings / conclusions: It is necessary to make visible the importance of tourism awareness as a local development strategy for communities, in addition to including tourism awareness on the part of tourists.