Turismo de segunda residencia: Balance de un desarrollo en la costa Pacifico Sur de Nicaragua

Abstract:

Attractive coastal regions of Central and South America have recently experienced
a rapid growth of second home developments. While the benefits of
tourism to regional economies are put forward by private investors, the
contribution of the holiday home sector to sustainable development in
peripheral areas is far from being established. This paper, which draws
upon both primary and secondary qualitative data, examines the nature
of the recent second home developments that have taken place on the
South Pacific Coast of Nicaragua. The challenges of this segment to
generate tourism activities and sustain local communities are also
questioned. The main impacts identified consist of conflicts over land
use and ownership, low-income employment generation, an increased
burden of municipal budget to provide public infrastructure, and
environmental degradation. It is argued that the second home tourism
sector, strongly driven by private real estate investors, fails to
induce the desired socio-economic benefits that would benefit local
communities. In addition, this study indicates that municipalities
concentrating on the second home tourism segment may deprive other
forms of tourism activities access to resources.