Agenda Local 21 Como Modelo Territorial: Política Pública Municipal Para El Fortalecimiento Institucional Del Sector Turístico En México

Resumen:El Programa Federal de Fortalecimiento Institucional de Municipios está fundamentado en el modelo de la Agenda 21 Local de la ONU (1992). Este ha supuesto una transformación de la política pública municipal de México en el ámbito social, económico, ambiental y gubernamental a lo largo de una década de aplicación (2004-2013). El Programa ha sido innovador y estratégico en los gobiernos municipales del país en materia turística, medido a través de indicadores que arrojan luz sobre la calidad de vida de los habitantes, la conservación y uso sostenible de los atractivos territoriales de los municipios y destinos turísticos de México.Abstract: Introduction The fourth Conference on Environment and Development (2012), marked the twentieth anniversary of the Agenda 21, also held in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992. Agenda 21 or global program of action to promote sustainable development in the XXI Century, has a third section and chapter 28 to embody the well-known Agenda 21 Local (A21L). This chapter states that the municipal authorities are vital in educating and mobilizing citizens, including entrepreneurs, to promote sustainable development. This Agenda has played a key role in the design and adoption of the Local Agendas 21 worldwide. For over more than two decades, the establishment of A21L in many countries has exposed that the impetus of local authorities to transit to sustainable social, economic and environmental practices is vital but still not sufficient. However, the program's vision has caused a number of innovations in municipal policies in environmental, social and economic terms. These transformations include aspects ranging from the purely environmental and social to environmental governance processes. Also in the economic area and in one of its sectors, such as tourism, changes have been measured by indicators that shed light on the effects on tourism destinations, in this case Mexico. With this background, the goal of this research is to analyze the 'Programa de Fortalecimiento Institucional de Municipios Mexicanos (Institutional Strengthening Program of Mexican Municipalities), based on the principles of Agenda 21 of the United Nations (1992) model. This program has led the transformation of the municipal public policy on a social, economic, environmental and institutional level. We have focused on the alterations in tourism responding to three specific goals: on the one hand, to analyze the evolution degree of the Promoter of Tourism indicator on a municipal level throughout the country; on the other hand, to identify the correlation between the Promoter of Tourism indicator and the socioeconomical and environmental indicators when implementing the agenda onto the municipal administrations and, finally, to compare the performance of the states of Mexico with the findings of the Promoter of Tourism indicator. Methodology With a quantitative approach, 4147 municipal verifications data performed in 989 municipalities of the 31 states of Mexico for a decade (2004-2013) were analyzed, all recorded in the Information System for Local Governments (SIGLO) of the National Institute for Federalism and Municipal Development (INAFED).The analysis was carried out in SPSS statistical software version 20 . Main results Findings are presented per goal. Regarding the first goal, results show a favorable trend throughout the 10 years of study in the evolution of the Promoter of Tourism indicator in Mexico. The country has three national policies that promote the development of tourism on a municipal level: the strategy of sustainable development led by the Federal Secretariat of Environment (SEMARNAT), the second one is the Agenda 21 for Mexican Tourism implemented by the Secretariat of Tourism (SECTUR), and the third policy is the 'Agenda desde lo Local' from the Secretariat of the Interior (SEGOB) where the Promoter of Tourism indicator, object of this research, is inserted. In 2004, 26 municipalities from the state of Nuevo Leon, representing 1% of the municipalities of Mexico, were included in the indicators evaluation. Ten years later, in 2013, 989 municipalities participated out of a total of 31 states of the Mexican Republic, representing more than 40% of the 2,440 municipalities of the Mexican territory, without taking into account Mexico City. Overall, these three national policies are consistent in form but differ in its implementation, which produces a duplication of functions. Regarding the second goal, findings show a positive and strong relationship between 'Promotor of Tourism' and 'Professional System of Public Servants' indicators. The presence of professionally trained public servants has increased, although in an insufficient way, who are the pillar of the institutional architecture with the vision of elaborating policies and programs for the municipal tourism development. However, one can not say that the initiated reforms, aimed at evaluating the performance of public servants, is impacting favorably on the municipal tourism sustainability. Likewise, the ‘Promoter of Tourism’ indicator is positively and significantly correlated with all indicators that shape the environmental dimension, including the "Environmental Education" indicator that has the highest average of its size. In this sense, although not all environmental aspects affect the tourism development of a destination in the same way, the strong link between tourism indicators and environmental indicators is highlighted by stating that it is necessary to promote an environmental culture in municipalities because the success of tourism development programs requires coordination of multiple stakeholders, especially entrepreneurs and those responsible of tourism management in municipalities and conservation and sustainable use of natural, cultural, historical and monumental attractions. Corporate social responsibility and the ADLL are key for the transition towards sustainable development in the tourism sector. Lastly, study findings allowed us to develop a ranking of the states of the Mexican Republic, with the results from the Promotor of Tourism indicator. We noticed that the distribution of performance outcomes is not the same across the country, nor within each state, since the ADLL implementation is voluntary and its efficiency varies according to the capabilities and resources of each local government. The comparative material indicates that the top three spots correspond to local governments in the north. The trend is that the northern states and central Mexico have improved performance in driving strategic programs that promote tourism development in the country. The described pattern could be explained in terms of that in the northern and central Mexico municipalities that early initiated the implementation of the agenda and includes many municipalities with tourist potential which develop programs in order to strengthen tourism as 'Pueblos Mágicos' (Magical Villages Programme), 'Tesoros Coloniales' (Colonial Treasures Programme), 'Ruta de los Dioses' (Route of the Gods Programme), 'En el Corazón de México' (The Heart of Mexico Programme) and 'Barrancas del Cobre' (Copper Canyon Programme). By contrast, in the south, the municipalities that belatedly entered the Agenda for the Agenda Desde Lo Local (ADLL) were located. Nevertheless, in the southern states of Mexico, some municipalities that have won national awards for its excellent performance in the tourism area, were located. We have the example of Tulum and Cozumel (Quintana Roo); Progreso and Valladolid (Yucatan); Calakmul, Champotón and Ciudad del Carmen (Campeche) and Tapachula (Chiapas). Most of these municipalities are inserted in the tourism program 'Mundo Maya'. Conclusions In conclusion, the evaluation of the programme 'Agenda Desde Lo Local' in tourism matter is an example of how to use public information to evaluate a government program focused on municipal development and sectoral public policy. With this, vital information for decision-making aimed at the constant improvement of the destination is generated. The study allowed two types of analysis: On the one hand, it represents a valuable opportunity for the design of public policies on strategic issues of tourism at a municipal level, by providing evidence of findings in 989 municipalities in 31 states of Mexico, in a decade of action (2004-2013). On the other hand, the results allowed us to clarify the behavior and trends in each of the regions of Mexico, from a sustainability point of view. The successful delivery of the 'Promotor of Tourism' indicator depends primarily on local governments. The ultimate goal is and should be to improve the quality of life of the population in tourist destinations in Mexico. We as authors believe that the research findings provide a knowledge basis regarding management and local government’s processes towards transitioning sustainable policies in tourism matter. These help to redesign strategies and improving policies. The set out evaluation in this study can support and guide a culture of assessment and accountability in local governments, within a framework of sustainability.