A Mixed Methods Study on Community-Based Tourism as an Adaptive Response to Water Crisis in San Andrés Ixtlahuaca, Oaxaca, Mexico

Abstract

Water scarcity is a threat in San Andrés Ixtlahuaca, Mexico, that imperils the survival of farming households whose food and income depend on rainfed agriculture. This research extends the framework of socioecological systems to tourism to understand how community-based tourism flourishes: not spontaneously but as part of an adaptive response to the water crisis. A research model was constructed based on mixed methods. For the qualitative approach, interviews were conducted with 12 community leaders. Results show that different capabilities have been developed throughout the adaptive cycle: information capabilities at the Ω phase; involvement capabilities at the α phase; self-esteem capabilities at the r phase; and resource use capabilities at the k phase. These capabilities make it possible to face the water crisis, but they also favor the implementation of tourist activity. For the quantitative approach, a questionnaire was applied to 88 community participants directly involved in tourism activities to discover the current state of the tourism-related capabilities, their shaping, and relationships. A partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the hypotheses raised was used. The activity makes the community resilient because it seeks to conserve and improve community resources through tourism-related capabilities.