Governance network for the tourist use of the Ibagué ecosystem and its rural area

Abstract

This study is focused on designing and applying a social network analysis model that seeks to evaluate governance for the tourist use of partner ecosystems. The case study used was the city of Ibagué (Colombia) and its rural area, a region that has made several efforts to position itself as a tourist destination with an ecological and cultural vocation. The governance relationships derived by the actors within the partner ecosystem give rise to a network that is modeled and analyzed to discover its more relevant structural properties. The results show that the system has a high connection capacity, strongly integrated modules, and a reduced set of highly relevant actors. Some recommendations are presented for the application of the proposed model in other partner ecosystems.