Resumen

GALAN OTERO, María; VELEZ RIVAS, Martha Lucia; TRIBINO, Luisa Fernanda  y  MORALES-BETANCOURT, Diana. Challenges in the Sustainability Certification Process for the Delimited Area of La Candelaria Historic Center in Bogotá (Colombia). Estud. perspect. tur. [online]. 2020, vol.29, n.4, pp.1155-1178. ISSN 1851-1732.

La Candelaria is the Historic Center of the city of Bogotá and it is considered the heart of Colombia colonial past. The present article exposes the case study of La Candelaria Historical Center’s certification process, according to the Colombian National Technical Standard for Sustainable Tourist Destinations and Areas [NTS TS 001-1]. This Standard establishes the environmental, economic and socio-cultural requirements to fulfill voluntary by the destinations in order to obtain the Tourist Quality Certificate granted by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Colombia. The idea was leaded by the District Tourism Institute [IDT], the governing body of tourism for the city of Bogotá, between 2015 and 2016 and this process was supported by the Tourism and Hotel Business Administration Faculty of Externado de Colombia University during 18 months (from February 2017 to July 2018). The University, through a participative and inclusive methodology, managed to identify and prioritize positive and negative aspects and impacts of tourism activities, design and energize programs for sustainability development, audit the process internally and finally achieved the implementation of the sustainability requirements of this Standard. This qualitative methodology included, among others, technical assistance and training for actors.

Palabras clave : sustainable tourism; historical center; social participation; certification of quality; sustainable development..