Sustainable tourism development in parque nacional lagunas de Montebello, Mexico

Abstract

The objective was to regulate the tourist and recreational activities that are developed within the Lagunas de Montebello National Park (PNLM, its acronym in Spanish) with the implementation of tourism carrying capacity (TCC) and limits of acceptable change (LAC). The method applied was Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) with an interview script to key informants, a field checklist with georeferencing, two workshops with local actors, analysis of satellite images and application of formulas for TCC. Results include the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis of the PNLM, the tourist capacity of sites for simultaneous users. Indicators for LAC were determined. Findings will assist public institutions to design better policies and strategies linked to tourism and sustainability.