INTRODUCTION

In recent decades, tourism at the global scale has acquired greater importance in the economy of some countries; in this sense, Mexico was ninth place receiving international tourists in 2015, with 29.3 million tourists, and it was second place in the American continent, only behind the United States (^{UNWTO, 2016}). In Mexico it is an extremely important economic activity; in 2016, it contributed 7.4 % of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and generated 4 059 500 direct jobs -7.9 % of the total employment- and an increase of 2.6 % was expected in 2017 (^{World Travel & Tourism Council, 2017}). Despite these achievements, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (^{OECD, 2017}) mentions that in Mexico the current tourism model is at a mature stage, that its economic impacts are quite specific, and that its contribution to development is limited. It suggests that a model is implemented which seeks the development of other destinations and the diversification of new touristic products, routes and cluster.

However, this strategy of diversification must be complementary to the existing product of sun and beach and should not be considered a substitute of it. In this context a diversified portfolio must be developed and with a higher value of tourism products, with a market approach that takes advantage to the maximum of different touristic resources, which include gastronomy, ecological products, adventure, gatherings and medical tourism. In addition to tourism diversification and the crisis of the agriculture and livestock sector, rural tourism emerges as a strategy to decrease the problem of low income and precarious employment in rural communities (^{CONEVAL, 2015}; ^{Torres and Padilla, 2015}). Presently rural tourism constitutes an alternative form of doing tourism, with its own entity, where the main motivation of the tourist is centered in contact with the rural environment and/or with its resources (^{Del Barrio et al., 2012}). This is why rural tourism becomes a new paradigm to promote development in rural territories.

Regarding the tourism activity that takes place in rural spaces, it is considered to be complex and incipient; in developed countries, like Spain, it contributes nearly 20 000 direct jobs and the services offer grows at an annual rate of 16 % (^{Instituto de Desarrollo Comunitario, 2015}). In Latin America rural tourism has increased from 10 to 15 % between 1996-2006 (^{Europraxis, T&L Tourism Leisure and Sports, 2012}). For the case of Mexico, in 2009 there were a total of 1,239 companies and projects directed at dealing with ecotourism and rural tourism, and the state of Oaxaca occupied the third place with highest offer of rural tourism, only behind Mexico City (^{Juárez et al., 2009}). The state of Oaxaca also stands out for its cultural and natural wealth; it has 16 ethno-linguistic groups, archaeological zones; artistic, gastronomic, musical expressions; geographic, ecosystem and biological diversity (^{Herrera et al., 2014}), placing it as an entity with tourism potential. The objective of the study was to analyze agrotourism, cultural and natural resources, and the infrastructure that people have for the provision of tourism services in the municipalities of San Miguel Amatlán and Santa Catarina Lachatao, in the state of Oaxaca. The hypothesis guiding the study points at the notion that implementation of agrotourism is possible in the municipalities of study because of the existence of a large amount of touristic attractions and, with it, the possibility of generating additional income to agriculture.

METHODOLOGY AND STUDY AREA

The research was carried out in the municipalities of Santa Catarina Lachatao and San Miguel Amatlán, located northeast of the capital of Oaxaca in Sierra Juárez, District of Ixtlán, between geographic coordinates 17° 06’ 05” and 17° 17’ 32” of latitude north and 96° 20’ 41” and 96° 32’ 24” of longitude west at an altitude between 2000 and 3200 masl (Figure 1), and they are characterized by having small localities, integrated by Zapotec indigenous people. They have basic public services such as electricity, drinking water and health clinics. The municipality of San Miguel Amatlán has 1,043 inhabitants and Santa Catarina Lachatao 1,307 inhabitants. Both municipalities have a high degree of marginalization and are affiliated to the Program for the Development of Priority Zones proposed by the Ministry of Social Development ^{(Secretaría de Desarrollo Social, SEDESOL) for 2017}.

Source: Authors’ elaboration.

Figure 1 Spatial location and main species of the municipalities of study. 

In the study, a bibliographic review was carried out about the theoretical approaches and concepts of rural tourism and agrotourism. The research was performed with the qualitative and quantitative approaches, which, according to ^{Guerrero-Castañeda et al. (2016)}, serve to support the explanation of a phenomenon, combining their perspectives in order to provide a broader view of the phenomenon; both do not complement one another as methods, but rather as production of knowledge.

To fulfill the objective proposed in the study, a methodology was designed that was based on obtaining information through field visits, the structured interview, which was done with key informants and people with experience in community charges, and questionnaires with peasants who were selected randomly, with the aim of analyzing and evaluating cultural, environmental and socioeconomic characteristics in the municipalities of study. To calculate the sample size, a randomized stratified sampling technique was used, with a proportional distribution to the size of each municipality (^{Gómez, 1979}):

where N: Size of the population; N _i : Size of the population of the stratum i; Si2: Variance of the stratum i.

With: V=d2Zα/22

With an accuracy of 15 % of the mean and a reliability of 95 %, the size of the sample was 81 interview respondents. In the municipality of San Miguel Amatlán, 22 were interviewed and in Santa Catarina Lachatao, 59 peasants devoted to agricultural practices, mainly maize. To analyze the information, parametric and non-parametric statistics were used.

AGROTOURISTIC RESOURCES AS PROMOTERS OF LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

In the study, touristic resources were analyzed that may be offered directly and which the farmer controls, and those that are outside the family production unit. The general characteristics of potential touristic actors (offer) are considered in the design of policies and strategies for the development of products and their diversification, marketing and promotion, investment, development of human capital, and sociocultural and environmental repercussions of tourism. In this sense, it was found that the interview respondents had an average age of 54 years, quite similar (54.6 years) to the one reported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, Fishing and Diet (Secretaría de Agricultura, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación, SAGARPA) and by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (^{SAGARPA and FAO, 2014}). The families are integrated in average by three people; is it considered that they are small compared to other indigenous spaces, such as the Northeastern Sierra in Puebla, which have in average 4.3 members (^{Juárez and Ramírez, 2014}). They have low schooling (6.3 years) compared to the national average (8.9 years) for the population of 15 years or more in 2012 (^{Instituto Nacional para la Evaluación de la Educación, 2015}). Age was associated negatively to the level of study, which is why older farmers have a lower level of schooling (r=-0.60; p<0.01). This shows that there is ageing in the population, which has low levels of schooling that can influence negatively the operation and management of touristic projects.

Regarding the touristic resources that interview respondents have, sociocultural and productive resources can be mentioned. Their language stands out among the first kind, and in Amatlán (50 %) and Lachatao (85 %) interview respondents -older adults- speak Zapotec and Spanish; these results are similar to those reported by the National Institute of Indigenous Languages (Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas, ^{INALI, 2012}), which points out that speakers of an indigenous language are generally older people, indicating that the younger that farmers are the lower probabilities that they will speak Zapotec. Despite this, they have an important resource to make an incursion into idiomatic tourism, where culture is the most important aspect to develop, but it also induces to purchasing services that belong in tourism, such as transport, housing, restoration, excursions, etc., elements that provide added value to teaching a language.

Another important resource in the tourism activity is cultural heritage, since it is considered currently as a tourism resource of great potential, and the patrimonialization of the “dietary culture” takes place now within the tourism market and its benefits for local development, which is why rural gastronomy is an important part of the culture and is considered a legacy of the civilizations that is part of their identity and reflects the life of people (^{Xavier, 2017}). Gastronomy in the municipalities of study is not the exception, which is rich and diverse, and represents an opportunity to be offered as gastronomy-touristic product; among the typical dishes of Amatlán, amarillo and mole de guajolote stand out, while in Lachatao, chichilo de pollo and atole colorado (chili and annatto). These are touristic resources that must be promoted; ^{Xavier (2017)} states that the valuation of local dietary patrimony has an economic role and is a motor for the territories of agricultural production, proposing new development paths and building new forms of territorial attraction. On their part, ^{Santana et al. (2012)} found that the most sought after activity by tourists is gastronomy, since they see it as a possibility to understand the culture of a place, and some are interested in knowing and preparing the dishes, as well as the rituals and habits associated to their preparation.

Another touristic resource is traditional medicine, which is focused primarily on spiritual cleanses, post-partum care, and cures for the soul (frights, anxiety, fears), as well as stomach and respiratory diseases; they also provide temascal baths and sobas (body massages). To prepare or perform them they use a diversity of plants; 45 were recognized, among which the ones most frequently used to treat stomach pains are pennyrile (Mentha pulegium), rue (Ruta graveolens) and spearmint (Mentha spicata). ^{Cruz-Casallas et al. (2017)} mention that ancestral knowledge has been historically used by indigenous communities in the solutions to their health problems; therefore, the preservation of traditional medicine is subject to the capacities of transcending their uses and practices from generation to generation, and in the ability to effectively incorporate this knowledge in the life plans of the different communities. In this sense, traditional medicine can be offered as an agrotourism product, taking advantage of the wisdom of traditional medicine.

Another touristic attraction can be built with agriculture and livestock practices; ^{Mas (2013)} mentions that these are activities that attract tourists. Therefore, it is fundamental to understand the characteristics of the production unit of inhabitants in Amatlán, which cultivate in average 1.8 ha, and in Lachatao, 2.08 ha, in a regime of communal property. This type of farms are characterized for sowing “milpa”, a production system based on the cultivation of small extensions where fundamentally maize is cultivated (^{Nava et al., 2013}). The production unit is a family good that can be considered a touristic resource because of interspersed sowing of crops, among them different types of maize races, beans, squash and other species, and as non-interspersed crops the ones that stand out are broad bean (Faba vulgaris), pea (Pisum sativum) and bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), which means that there is landscape wealth in the local agroecosystems, but also due to traditional management practices, since they use wooden ploughs pulled by animals in land farming. This type of agricultural practices can represent an attraction for tourists when evoking the past or history, and respect for nature in food production.

Another touristic attraction is represented by fruit orchards, of variable size and structure, such as agroforestry systems, where apple (Pyrus malus) and peach (Prunus pérsica) trees predominate, but there are also plum (Prunus domestica) and pear (Pyrus spp.) trees. Of the inhabitants in Amatlán, 88.9 % use the harvest obtained for auto-consumption. In Lachatao, only 3.6 % devote it to preparation of jams, jellies and other derivatives; the rest is sold in the locality.

There are also bulls that are used as animal traction force in the cultivation tasks and donkeys for the load. At the level of backyard they raise fowl, where hens and turkeys predominate, used primarily for auto-consumption. These are touristic resources which, according to ^{Morales et al. (2015)}, can be promoted as agrotourism products through the promotion of practices such as feeding backyard animals, after rearranging the space.

The touristic resources present outside the family production unit and which may be complement or principal attraction for tourists are diverse and very rich. Those of greatest importance are the species of wild animals. ^{Lavariega et al. (2012)} report the existence of 139 of them for Sierra Juárez, which houses 10 % of the natural wealth of the planet (^{Palomino et al., 2016}). The interview respondents mentioned that there are 22 mammal species in their municipalities, with ocelot, deer, puma, panther, wildcat and spider monkey standing out (Table 1). The diversity of species identified by the interview respondents has a high value for tourists, but there should also be care that this type of tourism be highly respectful to animal species.

The municipalities of study were located in one of the so-called Areas of Importance for Bird Conservation (Áreas de Importancia para la Conservación de las Aves, AICA-220) (^{Avesmx/Conabio, 2015}), because of the high number of species they house (483), representing 44 % of the national total and at least 66 endemic and quasi-endemic species (^{Santos et al., 2013}; ^{Rosas and Correa, 2016}). In the study area peasants identified 24 species; for their touristic importance, the ones that stand out are different types of eagles, roadrunners, owl, barn owl, and Mexican woodpecker (Table 2).

In addition to the animal and bird species, and in the municipalities of study, the farmers interviewed identified six species of fungi that they use in their gastronomy. Given their importance in the municipality of San Miguel Amatlán, the “Fungi Fair” is held annually, activity that is an attraction for tourists.

According to ^{Jiménez et al. (2016)}, this type of species should be considered within the recreational activities centered in the knowledge, collection and consumption of wild edible fungi and, therefore, represent a product within mycological tourism (Table 3). These events are considered by inhabitants as attractive and of interest for tourists.

In terms of the type of vegetation, farmers manifested that there are six types of vegetation: deciduous forest, pine forest, oak forest, pine-oak forests, sacred fir forest, and relicts of mountainous cloud forest. There are also beautiful landscapes, such as mountains, waterfalls, caves, rivers and streams that are favorable for ecotourism. The peasants interviewed mentioned that their state of conservation is good; this explains that indigenous peoples consider them essential because they are part of their material patrimony or natural capital and social reproduction (^{Flora et al., 2004}); their conservation is also attributed to the forms of Communal Government, since they are the basis for optimizing local practices and procedures in the management of natural resources (^{Gasca, 2014}).

It is considered that the municipalities of study have important touristic resources, although to convert them into products it is necessary to see if there are appropriate conditions to provide touristic services or make incursions in them. In this regard the characteristics of the households are analyzed; in average they have three rooms, two are for sleeping and one to prepare their foods, and they have drinking water, electricity and rest rooms. Their construction is considered attractive and in accordance to the landscape, since it has the characteristics of vernacular housing; their walls are adobe, with sheet roofs and cement floor. In a study performed in an indigenous zone of the state of Puebla by ^{Juárez and Ramírez (2011)}, they mention that the houses are inhabited in average by 4.6 members and have a room for resting and another for cooking, and they do not have the services of drinking water and drainage. These results show that households in the municipalities of study present better conditions to offer the service of lodging.

With regards to the participation of interview respondents in the provision of touristic services, it was found that they think that rural tourism is related mostly to spending time with people and with lodging, as well as communicating the uses and customs of inhabitants in their communities and daily tasks. Those who are between 30-50 years old are willing, to a greater extent, to offer rural tourism activities. It was also found that the interview respondents from Lachatao showed greater interest in the provision of these services, with touristic practices in their orchards standing out (Table 4).

Also, and in important percentages, they are willing to offer services as hotel and lodging, which means that they are considering rural tourism as an activity which may contribute to improving their economic conditions. Public administration plays an important role here in tourism promotion and this should be expressed through investment in programs directed at this type of projects to influence directly the planning, development and execution of touristic activities (^{Pérez-Ramírez and Zizumbo-Villarreal, 2014}).

In this sense it should be taken into account that the municipalities of study are ruled by uses and customs. It is a traditional form of sociopolitical organization that allows the election of public charges to be made through internal and autonomous normative systems (^{Canedo, 2008}); this scheme of governance refers to a series of formal and informal arrangements that define the way in which decisions are made to be implemented (^{Gasca, 2014}). This has allowed the collective participation in decision making of the municipalities where the importance of the civic and religious structure stands out, whose strength and integrity allow cementing the social cohesion and self-management among the population, given that the participation of social actors is an essential element for the development of tourism projects (^{Méndez et al., 2016}). According to the perception of interview respondents, this sociopolitical scheme has had an impact on the municipalities in study to develop ecotourism activities in an adequate and successful way.

The results bring to light that there is the possibility of success in the promotion of agrotourism projects, since these municipalities have the potential of offering the service and they have the market. In this regard, ^{Juárez and Ramírez (2007)} consider that if tourism projects are promoted, these will contribute to the conservation of natural resources; however, it should be planned, since it is possible that low-intensity tourism becomes mass tourism. This would present a risk for rural communities, exerting greater pressure on the natural resources available, situation that suggests defining the load capacity of agrotourism services that may be present in the municipalities under study. It is possible to conclude that the practice of agrotourism in the family production units can be viable, since it has a range of touristic resources that can be widely valued by tourists.

CONCLUSIONS

From the study it is derived that San Miguel Amatlán and Santa Catarina Lachatao have the characteristics favorable for the development of agrotourism activity, considering their social capital, interesting cultural resources such as agrarian techniques, lifestyles, gastronomy, festivities, scheme of organization and language, as well as their natural resources, with the beautiful landscapes, climate, vegetation and biodiversity standing out.

The farmers who are willing to make incursions into agrotourism activities are mature people with basic education and characterized for being small-scale farmers who own smallholdings and practice rainfed agriculture in small plots, sowing fundamentally basic crops with traditional productive techniques. Performing agricultural practices in their fruit orchards also stands out, which have a high touristic potential, representing an opportunity for development for local inhabitants. In this sense, the results show that inhabitants in the municipality of Lachatao have greater interest in the provision of these services, highlighting touristic practices in their orchards.

In their backyard they can offer activities of diet and animal care, activity directed at young people and children with educational purposes, and of discovery of the rural environment. Here, agrotourism may be constituted for the farmer into an activity that can be remunerated and contribute to the investments carried out in agricultural practices. In this sense, it is considered that it is favorable to offer land farming activities in a traditional way in the farmers’ plots.

In addition, gastronomic workshops can be offered in their households to make incursions into gastronomic tourism that seeks to fit in the local productive structure, which is why local gastronomy is a touristic attraction that may help to revalue the peasant production model when supplying raw materials for the elaboration of foods, since most of the gastronomic tourists demand natural agrarian products or elaborated traditionally, and typical of the region. The interview respondents are willing to offer this type of activities as a touristic product where women homemakers would be the main actors.

The patron saint festivities, fairs and mystical experiences, the Zapotec language, culinary knowledge, and alternative or traditional medicine represent big opportunities to offer a tourism product.

It is also important to point out that the municipalities of study have a singular wealth in wild species, which are appreciated by tourists, and from this type they can diversify into a series of touristic activities in the study zone. In general terms, agrotourism would be a source of social welfare and would generate diverse employment and complementary income for the families, in addition to supporting to a great extent the economy of future generations, without neglecting the environmental and cultural axis, established by the principle of sustainability.

This type of activities should also be planned so that they do not become massive and constitute a risk of environmental degradation. It should be planned considering the productive axis of the farmland as fundamental generator of products and services for “agrotourism”, which is why it is desirable for the peasant to receive training in agroecological aspects and in the provision of tourism services, without losing sight of the fact that coexistence and sharing practices and knowledge will become part of their daily work. Finally, it can be said that the municipalities of study have the natural and cultural resources, and a diversity of wild species that allow having a diversity of agrotourism resources, in addition to presenting a sociopolitical scheme known as “uses and customs” that allows the inhabitants to participate and become involved in the processes of development of agrotourism.