Abstract

PEREZ-VIVAR, Marcelino A.; GONZALEZ-GUILLEN, Manuel de J.  and  VALDEZ-LAZALDE, J. René. Methods to determine ecotouhrism suitability of forest areas. Rev. Chapingo ser. cienc. for. ambient [online]. 2012, vol.18, n.3, pp.271-289. ISSN 2007-4018.  https://doi.org/10.5154/r.rchscfa.2011.03.022.

Any ecotourism initiative must be based on the biophysical characteristics that exist in the zone and the environmental suitability to sustain its activities. Several studies have proposed methodologies to define the suitability for such purpose, however, only a few of them have approached a comparative analysis in order to determine its practical usefulness. The aim of this study was to analyze the methods used when determining the ecotourism suitability of forest areas as a reference for future works. It was observed two types of methods: qualitative (which describe the information related to the problem under study) and quantitative (which focus on measuring variables and the application of statistical processes to their analyses). The latter approach has more advantages over the former one as it allows characterizing the ecotourism activity of interest through natural, economical and social criteria, and associated indicators such as topography, vegetation, hydrography, geology, proximity to settlements and infrastructure. Furthermore, quantitative methods are the most desirable for evaluating ecotourism suitability because they generate a suitability value for comparative purposes. Knowing  both methodological approaches provide guidance for future assessment on this topic.

Keywords : Tourisrm; ecotourism; GIS; multiple criteria evaluation.

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