Evolution of Ecotourism in Coastal Indigenous Communities: Comparison of the Case Studies of La Ventanilla and La Escobilla in Oaxaca, Mexico

Clara Cordon (), Beatriz Carmena, Martín C. Giménez, José L. García and Carlos Calderon-Guerrero
Additional contact information
Clara Cordon: Departamento de Ingeniería y Gestión Forestal y Ambiental, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Montes, Forestal y del Medio Natural, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Beatriz Carmena: Asociación Tartarukus, 28804 Alcalá de Henares, Spain
Martín C. Giménez: Departamento de Ingeniería y Gestión Forestal y Ambiental, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Montes, Forestal y del Medio Natural, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
José L. García: Departamento de Ingeniería y Gestión Forestal y Ambiental, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Montes, Forestal y del Medio Natural, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Carlos Calderon-Guerrero: Departamento de Ingeniería y Gestión Forestal y Ambiental, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Montes, Forestal y del Medio Natural, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-21

Abstract: The state of Oaxaca is one of the most economically depressed in Mexico, and this has been recently aggravated by various geopolitical and ecological events that make the lives of its inhabitants even more precarious. There is a strong interest in accelerating the state’s development with sustainable alternatives. Within the neighbouring communities of La Ventanilla and La Escobilla in the Coast of Oaxaca, the promotion of the protection and productive use of sea turtles through ecotourism has been introduced. However, the two communities have observed different socio-economic development rates. This article aims to analyse these two case studies and why La Ventanilla has made ecotourism its livelihood, whereas, in La Escobilla, it has been a source of problems. The objective is, therefore, to analyse the evolution of their ecotourism initiatives and draw a comparison between both communities to understand the differences. This objective was evaluated through surveys, expert observation, and subsequent SWOT analyses (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats). In the next step, TOWS Optimum Strategic Alternative matrices were created to establish strategies for future proposals. The authors found a clear disparity between the two communities in terms of Strengths—La Ventanilla is 55% higher than La Escobilla— and Weaknesses—La Escobilla is 43% higher than La Ventanilla. The possible suggested causes could be “sanctuary status”, “urban planning”, “different origins of the problems”, “diversification of the ecotourism product”, and “external focus”. Consequently, community empowerment, sustainable urban planning, the creation of a diversification plan for ecotourism activities, or a dissemination strategy, in addition to project proposals with external research organisations and NGOs, are considered essential strategies for the success of the ecotourism plan and thus for the sustainable development and conservation of sea turtles.

Keywords: sustainable tourism; Indigenous community; Oaxaca; SWOT; TOWS matrix; sea turtles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/3/2207/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/3/2207/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:3:p:2207-:d:1046069

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().