Tourism as a scientific discipline in Cuban society

Introduction

Through this reference work, the aim is to define the relationship, impact and effect that science and technology have with respect to society. It is approached from the perspective of scientific research at the service of tourism management in Cuba and its contribution to society.

Etymologically, the word science comes from the Latin «scire», which means to know, that is to say that the basic definition of science is knowledge, or more precisely, human knowledge.

For Anzil "Science is, on the one hand, the process by which knowledge is acquired, and on the other, the organized body of knowledge obtained through this process."

From this concept, it can be deduced that the process is the systematic acquisition of new knowledge of a system, the systematic acquisition is generally the scientific method. And the system is generally nature, so Science is then the scientific knowledge that has been systematically acquired through it as a scientific process.

Technology is the set of skills that allow us to build objects and machines to adapt the environment and satisfy our needs. It is a word of Greek origin, τεχνολογος, formed by tekne (τεχνη, "art, technique or trade") and logos (λογος, "set of knowledge").

A technology is the set of knowledge, skills and means necessary to reach a predetermined end through the use of artificial objects or artifacts.

Technological activity influences social and economic progress, but it has also produced the deterioration of the environment (biosphere). Technologies can be used to protect the environment and to prevent growing needs from causing depletion or degradation of the planet's material and energy resources.

Technologies have historically been used to satisfy essential needs (food, clothing, housing, personal protection, social relationship, understanding of the natural and social world), to obtain bodily and aesthetic pleasures (sports, music) and as means to satisfy desires (symbolization status, weapons manufacturing and the full range of artificial means used to persuade and dominate people).

Many authors have pointed out that technologies are neither good nor bad. Ethical judgments are not applicable to technologies, but to the use that is made of them: a weapon can be used to kill a person and appropriate their property or to save life by killing a wild animal that wants to make human beings their dam.

Society is the set of individuals who share goals, behaviors and culture, and who interact by interacting with each other, cooperatively, to form a group or a community.

Human societies are population entities, within the population there is a relationship between the subjects (inhabitants) and the environment, both carry out activities in common and it is what gives them their own identity. Also, society is a chain of knowledge between various fields, economic, political, cultural, sports and entertainment.

Development is the process constituted by activities that lead to the use, improvement or conservation of natural or economic goods and services, in order to maintain or improve the quality of human life.

Given the universal nature of science, its influence extends to all fields of society. For Núñez Jover: "Science and technology are, above all, social processes… What makes knowledge a significant resource is the society that promotes and develops it."

In all cases, it is desirable that the scientific achievements achieved reach society.

The importance of science and technology in tourism management is essential today. Innovation in this field is a primary factor in economic and social development. Without well-trained individuals who are the protagonists of the challenges of techno-scientific innovation, it will not be possible to successfully face the challenges of the tourism industry, which are taxed for the benefit of society.

The consideration of science, technology and society as elements in continuous interaction facilitates the approach of tourism management to techno-scientific issues, favors the development of attitudes of interest towards these issues and creates the conditions for the emergence of concerns to delve into they will be the base of scientific vocations for the future.

Development

Science, Technology and Society in tourism management.

Science, Technology and Society (CTS) is more than a relation of these three concepts, today the importance of essential interactions between them is emphasized. In the last decades, this link between science, technology and society has been more intense and has begun to constitute a subject for reflection, since science and technology determine the forms of human life on the planet at the beginning of the 21st century.

The influence of technologies on social life is, today more than ever, of great intensity. For this reason, society itself must be brought to the fore as the protagonist in guiding the development of technical-scientific activities. Scientific training and the promotion of a more serious attitude in individuals, in a responsible and intelligent way in relation to technological scientific development and its social impact, is increasingly important, educating them so that they know how to act consequently and make decisions.

Professionals capable of facing the challenges of the 21st century must be achieved in the tourism management process, with general concepts and ideas that designate and explain processes that have a scientific basis and that use advanced technologies.

Tourism in Cuba has become an economic activity with a strategic projection that aims to support a competitive and sustainable tourism offer, while achieving a socio-political-economic balance in order to maintain and enhance natural, historical and cultural heritage. of the nation. The current dynamics and trends of the sector, worldwide, are uncertain and require a qualitative and quantitative evolutionary study in order to recognize the past, identify and experience the present, as well as forecast and design the future.

Cuba increased its gross tourism income in 2008 to $ 2,741 million, 13% higher than the previous year, according to a report released by the National Statistics Office.

In the statement, the source indicated that last year there were 2.3 million visitors, 9.3% more than in 2007, when there were 2.1 million inhabitants for a gross income of $ 2,414 million.

Is tourism science or not?

It is interesting, first of all, to talk about the epistemology of tourism.

Epistemology: From the Greek ἐπιστήμη, (knowledge) and –logy, means doctrine of the foundations and methods of scientific knowledge.

There are different criteria about whether or not tourism is science, whether in training or consolidated. Tourism from an academic point of view is valued as a serious area of study and of interest to researchers trained in tourism as in other areas of knowledge, despite the fact that tourism training and research are recent in this field, due to what is still in the preliminary stages of developing concepts and theories that are widely accepted by a scientific community.

Starting from the problem of scientific knowledge, epistemology investigates scientific claims and for this reason it is a critical reflection of philosophical style on everything that science does.

The application of epistemology to tourist studies is extremely important since it can help explain the tourist phenomenon and, at the same time, provide secure scientific bases for tourism researchers. The epistemology applied to tourism is important for two basic reasons: it helps in the validation of the knowledge produced in the area and helps to define the field of tourism, that is, where it begins and where it ends. Epistemology became increasingly important in the production of current knowledge and the same thing happens with tourism. Among the causes of this fact are the need for new studies in the area that respond to new problems created by the practice of tourism; increasing the importance of 'sightseeing' around the world,due to factors connected to daily stress, family problems, globalization, exacerbated competitiveness in all fields of professional performance; the increase in publications in the area of tourism worldwide; and the increase in higher and technical courses in tourism.

Tourism cannot be thought of only as an economic or social activity. Its definition must encompass all its multidimensions.

If one reads the different authors who analyze the production of knowledge in tourism, it can be seen that there are three groups with different opinions on this topic.

There is an optimistic group that believes that due to the existing scientific production, tourism can already be considered a science. There is a second group, also optimistic -but more cautious in their statements- that believes that tourism is on the way to becoming science, but for this to happen, studies in the area must be intensified, better addressing the object of study and defining Better the research method, since they consider that tourism still constitutes a field of study for other sciences but it is gradually developing a theoretical body that will give it the status of scientific discipline. A third group of researchers sees tourism as a human activity that is studied by the most diverse scientific disciplines and that is not and will never be a science.

The solution of this question depends on the gaze of the observer, with several answers possible. Thus, it can be argued that tourism is a science and the opposite can be argued.

For the creation of an epistemology of tourism, the effort of countless scholars articulated in groups is necessary due to the depth and complexity of the problems that can be addressed.

Concrete proposals to designate the new independent science had long existed. The Italian Fragola proposed calling it in the 60s of the 20th century "Tourismism" or "Tourismgraphy". But it was the Yugoslav Zivadin Jovicic (geographer in his academic training), the scientist considered "father of Tourismism", who popularized him when he founded the magazine of the same name in 1972. Jovicic himself was the most staunch defender of the idea of trying the phenomenon of tourism as the object of a unique, independent and original science. He stated that tourism is the object, not of different social sciences, but of a new scientific discipline, without denying the existence of specialized disciplines, such as the tourist economy, tourist geography, tourist psychology or the sociology of tourism.

Interdisciplinary collaboration is, according to Jovicic, at the very origin of the emergence of a specific science of tourism. If this new science was not yet available, it was because, on the one hand, the development of scientific thought about such an interesting phenomenon was considerably slow and, on the other, because the phenomenon is extremely complex and has intrinsic difficulties that hinder its knowledge. scientific. It is possible and desirable that many different scientific disciplines participate in research in this field, but it is in the interest of a single scientific discipline to study the phenomenon in its entirety.

Jovicic considered that none of the existing sciences could carry out the study of tourism in all its dimensions (neither geography, nor economics, nor sociology), considering that their contributions are unilateral. This would allow the creation of an independent science, Tourismism. According to his thesis, tourism is a unique phenomenon and none of its components can be studied in isolation, since in order to study any aspect of the phenomenon in isolation, it is essential to know its essence, its deep nature, because, otherwise, there is a risk to present it from a unilateral or denatured angle (falling into economism, geography, sociologism).

Tourismism was, for Jovicic and other scientists, the perfect name to name the new science of tourism, because it is simple and linguistically accurate. According to Jovicic, in a scientific discipline, the most significant thing is that it has an object and a purpose. The question of method had a secondary significance for him.

The author agrees with Jovicic's criterion, considering that the object of 'Tourismism', as a distinct and autonomous scientific discipline, is precisely tourism, a complex socio-spatial phenomenon that is identified with respect to others for its similarities and contrasts. Tourism is similar to health and culture and, due to its forms and manifestations, urban planning and transport and communications, but it differs from them in that its complexity is greater because it intertwines disparate, sociological, spatial, and psychological elements more intensely., politicians.

It is precisely in this intertwining of disparate elements where the specificity of tourism resides as a phenomenon unlike any other. Tourismism sets out to carry out tasks such as: Defining and studying the spatial, sociological and economic dimensions of tourism; study the correlation between the general and the particular, which has both theoretical and practical value in tourism, and study the fundamental notions and definitions, the elements of classification and the methodological framework, as well as answer the question of know where, how and why to develop tourism.

The choice of methods must be made according to the task to be studied. Such methods are very varied, for this same reason: mathematical-statistical, descriptive-explanatory (analogies, comparisons), empirical-normative. But, by virtue of the very specificity of the phenomenon, scientific problems must be addressed and solved by resorting, above all, to a synthesis of particular and disparate elements.

Jovicic, the main defender of the recognition of Tourism as a science, agreed that building a new scientific discipline is a complicated and very ambitious process, but an efficient organization can help its consolidation. These tools included the institutionalization of scientific work and the launch of specialized publications. For this reason, it has been emphasized that it becomes increasingly essential that the new and the old academic production in tourism unite in a scientific theory, so that the information and research are synergistically connected, to be used in practice.

If one takes into account that information is basic in decision-making, in tourism this variable is vital, due to the rapidity with which the sector grows and develops.

Analytical research on social reality, as well as technological research for the empirical development of products and services, should be channeled for the direct use of society through specialized institutions that have the necessary organizational, financial and physical infrastructure for this work. together, to create partnerships between universities, governments and companies.

Four theoretical platforms on tourism (apologetic, precautionary, adaptive and scientific-centric) were developed in the twentieth century. The first one highlights the attributes of tourism (preservation of the natural and cultural environment, facilitation of intercultural communication, expectations of world peace.). The second transmits a negative message about tourism (seasonal and low-skilled jobs, benefits only for large companies and corporations, destruction of nature, imbalance in the social structure).

Most of the polarized debates between these two platforms have revolved around the impacts of the tourism industry, which is why the third position (adaptive) emerged, which favors forms of tourism that are respectful of the host communities, their sociocultural and natural environment, and tourists' satisfaction with new options and rewarding experiences. Their strategies cannot accommodate the large tourist volume that is generated today globally.

During the last decade of the 20th century, the scientific-centric platform emerged, generally occupied by members of the academic and research community, which has tried to provide itself with a scientific foundation, since based on science, it defends objectivity, and systematically studies the tourism structure itself, placing it in continuity with various fields of research or disciplines.

This platform also defines the place of tourism in the broad multidisciplinary context that generates and accommodates it, examines its functions on a personal, group, business, governmental and systemic scale. It also identifies the factors that influence and are influenced by tourism. All this has contributed to a total treatment of tourism, not only of its impacts or forms. Its main goal is the formation of a scientific body of knowledge on tourism.

The four platforms listed offer an overview of the formation and transformation of visions of tourism. Behind this general panorama are hidden the specific conditions (catalysts and agents of change) that have contributed to the evolution and development of theory in the field of tourism.

Today tourism is a decisive global economic force and a gigantic world industry. It has almost all the properties and tools generally associated with the most developed fields of research. The interest of the academic community for this type of research in tourism has grown over time.

The construction process of the scientific foundations of tourism has been developed and will continue day by day. The social sciences will decisively contribute to your formation and solidification, and other fields related to your study will also help define the common areas of your study.

It maintains relationships with various phenomena and uses theories and methods from other disciplines, so Tourism is called to assume a truly interdisciplinary role in the academic world. Their own emerging theories and methods will be taken up by the same disciplines that generously contributed to the creation of their scientific foundations.

Thus, tourism research will be used with increasing intensity by scientific publications from other disciplines every day to illustrate their own references.

Every day tourism is increasingly considered a socio-economic phenomenon, so intellectual and academic institutions will see tourism research more readily. Every day more university careers, Bachelor's, postgraduate and doctorate programs will be developed. The development of scientific knowledge in universities is considered one of its essential functions in society.

In the process of converting Tourism into science, very important indicators such as specialized publications, renowned researchers and academic events are revealed, which speak of the maturity reached by scientific research in the sector. The new fields of activity of Tourism and the corresponding and rapid transformation in scientific discipline are considered today by many as a legitimate and important area for research.

Tourism as science in Cuba

If the aforementioned indicators are taken into account to measure the maturity of the conversion of Tourism into science, a significant advance can be seen in Cuba.

The Universities have modern computer and network technologies, Tourist Studies Centers, Bachelor's degrees in Tourism and postgraduate courses, Master's degrees in Tourism Management and a Doctorate. The branch Hospitality and Tourism Schools have information centers with advanced computer technologies, and progress is made in specialized publications, mainly specialized academic magazines, which play a fundamental role in the construction and dissemination of scientific knowledge.

The CIDTUR (Tourist Information and Documentation Center), located on the beautiful Paseo del Prado, in the Old Havana area, a World Heritage Site, belonging to the School of Higher Studies in Hospitality and Tourism, assumes the mission of guaranteeing the information base for the training and development of personnel in the tourism sector in general: teachers, students, specialists, and in particular their managers, in a segmented and personalized way. It has advanced computer technologies.

It is the result of the integration of several organizations: Information Center of the Center for Tourist Studies, Center for Tourist Research and Documentation and the Library of the Technological Institute "Rubén Martínez Villena", a merger that was carried out in 1994. However, according to its origins, it can be said that CIDTUR was created in 1976. It has working relationships with the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization), the CTO (Caribbean Tourism Organization) and other international organizations.

It has specialized staff capable of providing professional and accurate access to specialized information on tourism and related branches, both inside and outside the Center. Its bibliographic collection is made up of more than 4,000 titles in printed format: books, reference works, magazines and brochures, and more than 2,500 documents in other media, all registered in automated databases that facilitate their selection and location.

In addition, it has information sources from the Internet and international data banks. They are prepared as informative products:

1. "Vision CIDTUR" magazine that is published in four series:

«Evolution and Trends of the Tourism Industry» (quarterly) «Hotel Overview» (quarterly) «Tourist Training» (quarterly) «Thematic Series» (not periodic)

2. Bimonthly newsletter «CIDTUR Informa».

3. Daily electronic publication «Daily Press Report».

4. Electronic newsletters.

5. Loose with signal information for managers.

6. Analog summaries.

7. Monographic dossiers.

In addition to being one of the main sources of information for students, teachers and researchers, specialized publications serve as a communication channel between researchers, a space for debate.

Outstanding researchers work in the Universities, Tourist Studies Centers and branch tourism schools, where they have gained space and have attracted the attention of a growing group. These researchers have begun to form an academic community that, in turn, is just as outstanding.

The consolidation of a scientific community is observed through the establishment of paradigms that stimulate discussions on the advancement of the new area of knowledge. Although publications are an important means of achieving this objective, personal contact and direct discussions between authors / speakers and the public make these events essential to reach the maturity of an academic area.

Many tourism events take place in the country. Within the framework of the FIT (International Tourism Fair) that is held annually in the country, academic events are held with the participation of leading specialists from Cuba and abroad. Soon the TURNAT (Tourism and Nature) event will be held in the country, where scientific conceptions about the combination of both elements will be enriched.

It is also important that the personnel involved in decision-making be a promoter and consciously participate in the management of information and knowledge of the organization and, on the other hand, try to assume business intelligence, which is today a management tool whose function is to facilitate administrations the fulfillment of the mission of their organizations, by analyzing the information related to their business and their environment.

From the point of view of information management, it compiles, gathers and analyzes data and information, the result of which is disseminated throughout the organization. This allows to obtain, in a systematic and organized way, relevant information about the external environment and internal conditions of the organization, for decision making and strategic orientation.

Based on the analysis, it describes or foresees technological, market, and social facts and processes, presents trends. Uses databases, networks, file information, computer tools, and mathematics; and everything necessary to capture, evaluate, validate, analyze information and reach conclusions.

Business intelligence, organizational intelligence or corporate intelligence, as it is also called, assumed as a scientific informational function and activity, is closely linked to business management, and is in fact part of information and knowledge management itself.. To implement it, you need a human capital integrated into a network, that is, professionals and experts capable of:

Capture and select information and its sources Manage information and analyze it Access topics of interest to the company and a wide variety of information sources, be they statistics, databases or others Master information technologies for faster and more efficient processing Contact people in the information environment of the company, be it local, national or international, and obtain a clear notion of information management based on the interests of the organization Advise, make decisions Establish communication channels, among all.

Business intelligence, as a management tool, is closely linked to the work carried out by a tourist observatory. This is identified as a working group, a research team, a tourist information system, a set of tourist operations, an analysis instrument, a management tool, a technical academic institution, an analysis, planning and forecasting tool.

It is a technical academic organization because, despite belonging legally to the highest level of tourism in a country, region or city, joint actions are brought together, that is, professional experts in the tourism sector agreed and collaborate with professional experts from university faculties, carries out marketing work applied to tourism and studies cases on the evaluation of tourism potential.

Your final product will become a powerful information tool that will endow and legitimize its scientific nature, which will allow planning and establishing optimal tourism strategies and, more importantly, will allow decision-making.

In the framework of the commemorative activities for World Tourism Day, on September 27, 2007, in our country, the Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz officially opened the Tourist Observatory that was created as a consultative and advisory body, in order to follow the pulse of the evolution of tourism, its behavior, trends and propose the measures that are deemed adequate to improve the competitiveness of Cuba's tourism products and destinations. Among its functions are:

Coordinate studies and work programs that allow timely implementation of actions and strategies in each market. Know and monitor the evolution of tourism markets, as well as their trends, proposing the measures deemed appropriate. Permanent monitoring of the variables that determine changes in the historical trends (tourist flows, behaviors of the consumption of tourist products, competitiveness, positioning of our destination and those of the competition, among others). Elaboration of analysis of situations that allow the Market Committees to establish courses of action that reorient and complement the strategies implemented in the markets. Preparation of Executive Summaries of information of interest to the Directorate of the Ministry,reported in the most relevant media and with the greatest coverage of the markets of interest. Preparation of analyzes and reports for the preparation of specialists who participate in Fairs, Meetings and Work Missions Abroad; as well as for the attention to delegations that visit the organization. Facilitate access to all the knowledge generated through the use of new information and communication technologies.

For the performance of its functions, the Tourist Observatory has modern technologies and the support of different OACE (Organizations of the Central State Administration), research centers, universities and Sector entities that contribute to establishing joint mechanisms to articulate an adequate response. before extraordinary external events that affect the international tourist demand towards Cuba.

After rethinking the necessary tactical adjustments that the country had to make to face the current international financial and economic crisis, tourism will continue to be one of the key sectors of the Cuban economy. It will continue, "betting" on the excellent prospects of the sector in the country that, as Fidel has pointed out, has "… a tourism of peace, health and safety…, a tourism of healthy recreation, culture and rest,… Without casinos or games,… a tourism without the unemployed or beggars,… without drugs or crimes, in the country that, with giant steps, is already advancing irrepressible towards a comprehensive general culture ”.

For this, the result of the work of the Tourist Observatory and the scientific research carried out in the tourist field are vital, in order that tourism development continues to be one of the fundamental factors in the country for the revival and modernization of production. national, the introduction of new technologies and the transformation of business culture by applying new concepts on quality assessment, customer service, meeting deadlines and sustainable development.

The role of knowledge, together with information, with a high humanistic sense in our society, has made it possible for values to be added to the tourism industry. This sector has had in the last two decades a multiplying effect on other branches of the economy, taking into account that it encourages the Construction Materials Industry and the Construction Industry itself, each year the participation of national products is greater In satisfying the demand for tourism supplies, the Food and Light Industries have increased their income by hundreds of millions of dollars and is a source of employment that contributes to the labor sustainability of the town.

Tourism impacts Cuban society with positive effects, in a close connection of a scientific nature, with advanced technology and the social effect it produces. For this reason, Tourism in the country has been called "the locomotive of the national economy", influencing its value by linking Science and Technology applied to Society.

Conclusions

1. Studies on Science, Technology and Society constitute a field of work in the fields of academic research, education and public policy. It is about understanding the social aspects of the scientific-technological phenomenon, both in terms of its social conditioning factors and in terms of its social and environmental consequences.

1. The role of knowledge and information, coupled with reason and humanism, is unavoidable to add greater value to the good or service of a given company.

2. Science must be seen as a social process, a practice that integrates psychological, social, economic, political and cultural factors.

3. Tourism can be considered a science with its own object, foundations and methods, which imply interdisciplinarity with other sciences.

4. Tourism impacts Cuban society with positive effects, in a close connection of its science nature, with the advanced technologies it uses and the social effect it produces.

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