Tactics for the tourism game in groups of municipalities from Buenos Aires Province: a classification for the development of sports tourism>

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the distribution of touristic resources and touristic amenities, jointly with other relevant variables, in the municipalities of the Province of Buenos Aires, in order to propose a regional touristic classification that considers the potential of specific resources in their tourism development. Using the methodologies of principal component and cluster analysis, we obtain eight groups of municipalities. These show a gradual transition from municipalities where the tourism activity is relatively more important to those that are more urbanized and industrially developed. Three groups stand out from the point of view of the touristic activity. One of these is mainly composed of municipalities from the Atlantic Coast, with a majority of natural resources and a high share of the Hotels and Restaurants activity in the local economy. The other two groups are mainly composed of municipalities with a relatively high endowment of sports tourism resources: one of them being more urban, with resources linked to football and rugby. In contrast, the other one is more rural and has other types of sports resources, such as polo, golf, basketball, or fishing, and includes clubs and associations. This finding shows that there is a great opportunity for the development of a sports tourism strategy. The present work contributes to the understanding of the diversity of the municipalities of the Province of Buenos Aires, encouraging the use of multivariate statistical methods in this area of research. At the same time, it proposes the consideration of alternative resources, such as those linked to sports, for local development through tourism.

Keywords
Tourism; Municipalities; Cluster analysis; Sports tourism