Regional Ecotourism Networks: Experiences and Lessons from Los Tuxtlas, Mexico

Ecotourism has the potential to foster human development in marginalised areas and, at the same time, promote environmental conservation. However, as studies have shown, ecotourism enterprises often struggle to be economically viable. In this context, cooperation and the establishment of networks on a regional scale have been proposed as promising strategies, which can benefit the enterprises in many ways, including information exchange, effective promotion, creation of competitive tourism products and representation of common political interests. Based on a mixed-method approach, the present investigation analyses to what extent this has been the case in the Los Tuxtlas region in Southern Mexico, where since the year 2000 several attempts have been made to form regional ecotourism networks. Mapping and the use of quantitative network analysis tools, based on the application of questionnaires, demonstrate the current structure of both formally established networks and the net of informal cooperation in the region. In combining these data with qualitative information obtained from interviews, insights are gained regarding the catalysts that initiate networking processes and the stakeholders involved, the main obstacles as well as costs and benefits of forming part of regional networks.