Abstract
Butterfly-based handicraft activities are usually performed around or within natural reserves. Using these insects in a sustainable way by rural communities should address multiple factors, goals and conservation constraints. This study ranks tourist zones in Veracruz, México, to create and market butterfly-based handicrafts by applying a multicriteria analysis. We differentiated top zones where a segment of the rural population could benefit from this activity. Roads, butterfly diversity, and tourists emerge as key elements while protected areas and transport costs were considered as constraints. The economic value of the butterfly-based handicraft market was estimated as well.
Highlights
Tourism is ranked third as an income source for Mexico, and the country is among the top ten destinations for international tourists. It represents near 8.5% of the Gross Domestic Product and received 32.1 million international tourists and contributed to the economy with US $15.5 billion in 2015 (Sistema Nacional de la Información Estadística del Sector Turismo de México [DATATUR], 2016; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2017)
On the other hand, based on the tourist number reported by Sectur (2013), we adjusted the model: ln(T) = -0.0549 + 1.0375*ln(P), (r2 = 0.88; F1, 8 = 7.8, p < 0.01) and estimated the number of visitors for the tourist zones without official data
Marketing and protecting natural resources lead to conflicts and opposing goals
Summary
Tourism is ranked third as an income source for Mexico, and the country is among the top ten destinations for international tourists. It represents near 8.5% of the Gross Domestic Product and received 32.1 million international tourists and contributed to the economy with US $15.5 billion in 2015 (Sistema Nacional de la Información Estadística del Sector Turismo de México [DATATUR], 2016; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2017). The main tourist attractions are related to its richness in natural resources, historic and cultural heritage, and distinctive regional cuisine, along with festivals and custom celebrations (CamarenaGómez et al, 2014). Main natural attractions include beaches, rivers, lagoons, thermal springs, mountains, and sand dunes. The diversity of services allows having visitants during the whole year and on Easter or vacation periods (Secretaría de Turismo y Cultura [Secturv], 2018)
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