Sustainable tourism carrying capacity. The case of El Veladero National Park, Acapulco, Mexico

Natural Protected Areas (NPAs) are demanded by visitors who seek to live experiences with environ-mental quality and contact with host communities. For this reason, its tourist use must be of low im-pact and project a harmonious development of na-tural resources. The objective of this work was to determine the tourism carrying capacity of a trail in el Veladero National Park, which enables a re-duction of the impact of recreational activities and stop environmental deterioration. The methodolo-gy was based on documentary research, and the analysis of the social and environmental condi-tions of the park, which enabled the calculation of the tourism carrying capacity (TCC). Results showed that the physical carrying capacity (PCC) was 1 988 visitors, the real (CCR) was 34 visits, and the effective (ECC) 11 visits per day, which must be respected so as to not negatively impact the envi-ronmental quality. Conclusions indicate that it is advisable to implement actions that enable the de-velopment of sustainable tourism, which is in line with the natural conditions of the site. In a simi-lar vein, respecting the social and cultural tradi-tions of the host community, will enable the long-term preservation of the studied NPA. The calcu-lation of the TCC has been proved useful for tou-rist use, without negatively impacting the environ-ment or the generation of economic benefits for the host community in the studied area.