Resumen

GARCIA GUTIERREZ, Ivo; POMPA MANSILLA, Sandra  y  LOPEZ LOPEZ, Álvaro. Ecotourism as a tool to promote empowerment the case of Ejido San Francisco in the Sierra de Alvarez Flora and Fauna Protected Area, San Luis Potosi. El periplo sustentable [online]. 2017, n.32, 00001. ISSN 1870-9036.

Community ecotourism represents an opportunity to promote the empowerment and for improving the living conditions of vulnerable groups within the natural protected areas. This paper presents the results of a geographical research project on the role women in community conservation, carried out with the aid of qualitative techniques, such as participant observation and focus groups. The research experience contributed to the empowerment of a group of residents of the Ejido San Francisco, Villa de Zaragoza, that offers their services to visitors to the Sierra de Alvarez Flora and Fauna Protected Area in the state of San Luis Potosi. From the results, it highlights the participatory design of a critical path that contains the seven processes and strategic activities for the development of ecotourism at the site.

Palabras llave : Empowerment; ecotourism; Sierra de Alvarez.