User:Conchaqueen/sandbox

= Ecotourism in Mexico = Tourism in Mexico is one of the largest sectors of revenue for the country. As sustainability becomes a more pressing issue, it is believed that ecotourism will grow along with tourism in general. The use of ecotourism in Mexico has had mixed reviews and impacts for varying related topics. Mexico's use of this sector is projected to continue to grow for both tourism and ecotourism.

This growth of ecotourism has been reflected in Mexico's laws like the General Tourism Law of 2009 that advocates for its interests in ecotourism development by outlining its mission as, "To establish the political basis, planning and programming for tourism activity in the whole national territory, under criteria for social and sustainable benefit…” “Determine mechanisms for the conservation, improvement, protection, promotion, and exploitation of national tourism resources and attractions, while, based on criteria, preserving natural and cultural heritage and ecological balance".

Mexico has followed up with these goals in tourism policy and programs. Some of these programmes are the Programme for Sustainable Regional Tourism Development, Pueblos Mágico, General Tourism Planning of the Territory Programme, and Mexico's Special Climate Change Programme. However, Mexico has also stated that barriers to adequate infrastructure inhibit contribute to further environmental challenges in ecotourism.

Economy
According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, Travel & Tourism contributed MXN3,100.3bn (USD165.9bn) to the Mexican economy in 2016, about 16.0%, and is intended to rise by 3.7% in 2017. One of the major economic issues that has stemmed from tourism in general and in exacerbated by ecotourism in Mexico is inequality in both social and monetary mediums. One paper cites that this is done by the way ecotourism discourages the use of land by locals and encourages actors from non-local places to stimulate flows of revenue.

Environment
Some scholars believe that ecological sustainability is a goal that ecotourism in Mexico must still make great strides to reach because of the lack of consistency between indicators of sustainability in this model of tourism.

Mexico is home to 42 of UNESCO's Latin America and the Caribbean Biosphere Reserves, which are conservation sites of critical biological importance that undergo review for ecological sustainability by the UN. These sites are important to ecotourism because they are popular sites for tourism and and other forms of sustainable development

In Mexico's INDC, as part of the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the need to prepare tourist areas with adaptation measures for extreme events was an important part of their strategic infrastructure goals to be implemented between the years of 2020-2030. This emphasizes how the environment will be impacting tourism in the years to come.

Monarch Butterfly Reserve of Mexico
The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in west-central Mexico is an example of ecotourism that has existed since the 1980s. In its initial implementation, it was proposed that this would be extremely beneficial for alleviating poverty as well as advancing conservation efforts. However, some scholars have provided evidence on how this conservation effort has been ineffective on improving poverty in this area, especially for indigenous peoples.

Xcaret
Xcaret Park is an "eco-archeological" theme park in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Xcaret plays off of indigenous and Mexican identity to curate the theme for its park while maintaining eco-tourism values. Xcaret maintains these values through its extensive corporate social responsibility program, which has of 2016 begun to implement almost all aspects of the UN's Millennium Development Goals into various parts of their business. Some scholars, however, are critical of the way Xcaret has developed and used identities of various actors in Mexico and believe this is a commodification of the Maya, and other indigenous cultures, for tourism.