The Tourist Carrying Capacity as a Basis for Sustainable Management of Ecotourism Activities: Case Study of the Southern Mexican Caribbean

In the Mexican Caribbean, the demand for tourism services led to the expansion of the hotel industry from the coast inland. This caused rural and urban communities in the region to become involved in tourism activities, initiating the formulation of an international model of sustainable development with a focus on cultural tourism. Considering the tourism potential that the study area can offer to nearby rural communities, as well as the limited number of studies aimed at estimating tourism carrying capacity (see examples of TCC for environmental management units in communal land areas like Baja California, Mexico and the Huagapo cave in Peru), the present research aims at estimating the tourism carrying capacity in the southern region of the Mexican Caribbean. A mixed methodological approach was adopted for the present study entailing a detailed description of flora and fauna in the study area using natural resource mapping tools, social diagnosis of the communities in the study area using the Participatory Action Research (PAR) technique in the communities of Caobas and San José de la Montaña and the estimation of tourism carrying capacity (TCC), Physical Carrying Capacity (PCC), Real Carrying Capacity (RCC), and Effective Carrying Capacity (ECC) using information gathered through fieldwork and bibliographic review. It was found that the area can support a tourism carrying capacity of 538.33 visits per day. In this initial assessment, it was estimated that the implementation of an ecotourism project in a rural community would not alter its environmental conditions. The estimated indicators provide appropriate tools for designing and planning long-term sustainable tourism proposals. Moreover, they integrate environmental, economic, and social aspects in a balanced manner, generating tangible and lasting benefits.