Geotourism potential and challenges in the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina (Colombia)

Abstract

The Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina (Colombia) is a well-established tourist destination with numerous geosites that show a marvelous natural and cultural heritage of great importance and attractive for the development of geotourism. Although this region is visited mainly for its spectacular coastal landscape, until now, there was a lack of geological information and interpretation about those emblematic geosites. Therefore, it is very important to develop a geoconservation strategy by promoting sustainable geotourism through improving the knowledge of the geological elements of this region. The landscape value of this region must be globally recognized to improve and protect its heritage resources through geotourism and geoeducation with geoconservation purposes, so that it motivates an efficient management that describes guidelines that promote the development of an appropiate tourist infrastructure, centers of scientific and cultural interpretation, dissemination and educational materials, active exchange with geoparks, continuous improvement and participation of the local communities.