Rural tourism as a complement for rural territorial development in zones indígenous in México

Abstract

In Mexico, during the last decades, an agrarian policy has been promoted that has increased the levels of poverty within the rural population, mainly of the indigenous groups. In this region, coffee producers are natives who live in conditions of extreme poverty and marginalization, with small areas of land and with a very low value added to their product. The world-wide crisis of the coffee, has worsen the situation of the population in the rural area who are looking for other survival strategies like the national and international migration. Another option is the rural tourism in marginalized areas, which represents an alternative to promote the rural territorial development. This research is to find out if the indigenous population of the Sierra Norte of Puebla, are interested in participating in tourist activities to generate an income that is not produced in the agricultural field.