The most relevant sites for family-oriented tourism were selected in the state of Veracruz, Mexico (table 1) (Secturv, 2015). Health resorts, thermal springs, colonial towns and magical villages were geo-referenced as points while transects were delineated over the beaches accessed by tourists. In each site, a buffer zone with an 11 km radius was created. The distance is closely equivalent to the minimum one-way ticket cost for public transport, assuming that potential vendors from the rural areas use this mode of transportation. After the tourist zones were delimited, a restriction layer was applied to exclude those areas overlapping with Protected Natural Areas, which by law, have legal restrictions in the use of wildlife. These areas were: Cofre de Perote (CP), Pico de Orizaba (PO), Cañón del Río Blanco (RB) and Reserva de la Biosfera de Los Tuxtlas (BT) (Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas [Conanp], 2015 ).

Table 1. Table 1. Tourist sites and code, main attractions and services in the state of Veracruz, Mexico Source: own elaboration

Table 1. Table 1. Tourist sites and code, main attractions and services in the state of Veracruz, Mexico Source: own elaboration

At each tourist zone, six information layers or factors were calculated and clipped to estimate a weighted linear grading index (Liaghat et al., 2013). These factors were: (1) Area of the zone A (square km), considered to capture or extract butterfly specimens. (2) Tourist number T (Sistema Integral de Información de Mercados Turísticos [SIIMT], 2013), considered as the potential consumers, near five million tourists visited Veracruz during 2013, from which 3.5 million had a known destination. The remaining tourist number was allocated across the tourist zones based on a double log, linear regression model related to the population size P:

(1)

(3) Total population size P (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática [INEGI], 2010) as an indicator of tourist services. (4) Federal roads R (km), this layer corresponds to the length of national freeways crossing the area, it is relevant as a way to access the zone and because visitors could stop at local towns and buy souvenirs when traveling in their own vehicles. (5) Raw material sources S, corresponding to locations with population size higher than 8,000; we assumed these locations could be provided with shops and stores to buy the required raw material to make the handicrafts. (6) Butterfly availability B, this is a raster layer that contains the potential diversity distribution of 17 butterflies considered of ornamental importance (Jacinto-Padilla et al., 2017). The layer was clipped per each tourist zone and the mean species diversity was computed. The five most preferred butterfly species were: M. helenor, D. gilippus, H. erato, Myscelia ethusa Boisduval, and Siproeta stelenes L. These neotropical species are also commercialized in other countries (Boppré & Vane-Wright, 2012; Lopez-Collado et al., 2016). At the next step, values of each factor were normalized between zero and one, and then a weighted sum was computed. The weight reflects the relative importance of each factor and the sum corresponds to the grading index (Santé-Riveira et al., 2008).

We derived the factor weights from a comparison matrix. By consensus, the authors compared pairs of factors using a 1 to 9 grading scale, 1 meaning both factors are equally important and 9 implies one of the factors is extremely important (Saaty, 1990). The weights were derived from the normalized eigenvalues of the matrix. Once the weights were estimated, a sum of the factors was computed with the equation:

(2)

Where I _f is a suitability index, reflecting the potential of the zone to market handicrafts. In this equation, the X’ is a normalized factor, ranging from zero to one, and w is its weight obtained from the comparison matrix. Factor normalization was computed with equation 3:

(3)

Equations 2 and 3 were applied to each zone, according to its factor values. The consistency of the comparison matrix was estimated with the Consistency Index (CI), which should be less than 0.10 (Saaty, 1990). We estimated the potential rural population that could benefit from these areas by computing the rural population size in each zone, rural locations have less than 2,500 inhabitants. The bottom and top zones were selected by calculating the quantiles of I_f below 0.20 or above 0.80, respectively.

The economic value (V) of the tourist zones was estimated by using a stochastic multiplicative model based on tourist number (T), expenditure of tourist per year (E), proportion of expenditure in handicrafts (H), and the expected market share of butterfly-based handicrafts (M) (adapted from Mundy & Bullen, 2008):

(4)

We use Monte Carlo simulation (n = 50,000 runs) to obtain the sampling distribution of V based on bootstrap sampling or by using distribution models representing the components of equation 4. Model parameters and constant values were obtained from published data or by expert opinions. The analysis were performed using R v3.5.3 (R Core Team, 2019) and maps were generated using Quantum QGIS v3.6.0 (QGIS Development Team, 2019).

The map presented in figure 1 shows the tourist zones and their suitability to produce and market handicrafts. The zone with the highest grade was Z06; it covers from Chalchihuecan to Anton Lizardo beaches, including the cities of Veracruz and Boca del Rio. The second place was Coatzacoalcos (Z13). The third was Costa Esmeralda (Z02). Next was Xalapa (Z16), and the fifth zone was Catemaco-Salto de Eyipantla (Z11). Three zones are located in the central part of the state while Catemaco-Salto de Eyipantla and Coatzacoalcos are located in the south. The less ranked areas correspond to Tres Zapotes (Z09), San Lorenzo Tenochitlán (Z12), El Zapotal (Z20), Tamiahua (Z01), and Quiahuixtlán (Z15). Tourist zones with beaches, waterfalls and a colonial city were the best graded, because they have better infrastructure and high butterfly diversity. Regarding the protected zones, there were two non-overlapping zones, CP and PO that locate in the cold, high dry mountain region of Veracruz and relatively far from the tourist sites. Therefore, because of the harsh climatic conditions, they also present low butterfly diversity. On the other hand, the protected area RB was excluded from zones Z07 and Z19 while the protected area BT was excluded from zones Z10, Z11, and Z21. The former is considered to have semi-virgin beaches, Z21 is between Z10 and Z11, this is one of the richest diversity region in Mexico (Koleff & Soberón, 2008).

Figure 1. Figure 1. Tourist zones and their suitability rank (Z-O) related to production and marketing of handicrafts based on butterflies in Veracruz, México. Inset map corresponds to the tourist zones in the northern part of the state Source: own elaboration

The grading scale was able to breakdown tourist zones based on their favorability to market butterflies as crafts. For example, zone Z06 had the highest rank due to its commercial, maritime, and tourist activities that translate into high values for the selected factors (table 3). This zone attracts tourists that like to spend time in the beaches or enjoy other tourist attractions (table 1). In this zone, Cruz-Salas (2011) interviewed visitors and local people and found that they are willing to spend from MX $100 to MX $130 to buy butterfly-based handicrafts. Similar conditions were found in Coatzacoalcos (Z13). On the contrary, the colonial city of Xalapa (Z16) had a high butterfly diversity and was ranked fourth despite being far from the beaches. These zones contrast with some of the less favorable, like Z09, Z12, and Z20, which lack roads and services, even though they have high butterfly diversity (table 3). Therefore, in these sites, transportation and services are less abundant and limit the willingness of tourists to visit them. The least ranked zones have no roads, have few services, small areas and receive few tourists, except for zone Z01 that was expected to receive a high number of tourists, according to the regression model (table 3).

These results suggest that, in general, roads and services limit the potential to market handicrafts. The restrictions on transportation have been recognized in other studies. For example, places like Michapan, Paso de Ovejas and Tepexilotla, have ecotourism potential, but the lack of roads limit their access (Díaz et al., 2008; Quitano-Díaz et al., 2017). The same happens in other places in the country, where the tourist potential is hampered by difficult access, for example, San Miguel Topilejo, in the valley of Mexico (Carpinteyro-Urbán & Espinosa-Castillo, 2014). As in other countries, it is suggested that government develop the infrastructure and promote cooperation between tourism actors (Budiarta et al., 2017). A distinguished feature of our work is that, unlike previous research addressing entomotourism activities around and within natural parks and conservation sites (Goodwin, 2002; Putri, 2016; Tran et al., 2015), we took into account the different constraints and legal restrictions on the management of natural resources within these kinds of place (Esquivel-Rios et al., 2014). Thus, we adopted a conservative approach by excluding protected sites rich in biodiversity and minimizing the risk of degrading the natural resources as it has been documented in other places like the Bantimurung Nature Recreation Park in Indonesia (Putri, 2016). In the case of the monarch butterfly in Mexico, socio-economic conflicts have been reported between local inhabitants because some of them have rights to develop entomotourism activities while others are not allowed to (Mendoza-Ontiveros et al., 2015). In addition, in the protected areas, it is necessary to have a conservation management plan to perform eco-tourism activities. However, in most cases, there is no such plan, thus leading to a negative balance in protecting the natural resources as it was reported in the Lacandona Selva in Chiapas (Calleros-Rodríguez & Guevara-Romero, 2016). Therefore, our approach minimized these type of conflicts by excluding protected areas.

On the other hand, the total area of the 21 tourist zones accounts for 11% of the state area, in which 579,104 inhabitants live in the rural areas. We assume that high diversity correlates with abundance, thus, we expect that extracting butterflies in the best ranked zones would not affect natural populations. In addition, previous estimates consider that near 6% of the economically active population work in tourism, and only 9.6% of them focus on the handicrafts and souvenirs (INEGI, 2015). Therefore, we estimate that 3,326 persons in the rural areas of these tourist zones could directly work in marketing butterfly-based handicrafts. This total is disaggregated by zones in table 3, but as people already work in this market segment, it should be considered as the best-case scenario. In addition, because of the differences in the marketing potential, we would expect that people living in the top zones (1,446) have the best opportunities to develop this activity and because there is an already established handicraft marketing sector, people will need to compete and develop marketing strategies to attract the consumers. Also, our objective was to address people living in the rural areas near these tourist zones because they are best located to collect or capture ornamental butterflies (Lopez-Collado et al., 2016), but it does not exclude inhabitants of urban areas because some of the target Neotropical butterflies also thrive in those areas as well (Jacinto-Padilla, 2016). Anecdotal evidence indicates that in zone 16 a single person sells butterfly-based handicrafts, thus highlighting both the potential of this activity and the lack of people dedicated to it. A previous research estimated that most visitors (74%) have the intention to buy this type of merchandise (Lopez-Collado et al., 2016).

The favorability index of the assessment system integrates the three pillars of sustainability. Tourist area, number of tourists and row material sources are part of the economic sphere. Socially speaking, the size of the rural population and roads are included. Also, in the environmental component, protected natural areas and the availability of non-threatened butterfly resources were included. Thus, our model conciliates the economic development and the conservation of the biological resources. However, much work is needed and some challenges are expected to be overcome in order to establish a butterfly-based handicraft market. First, the need of training because this a new activity (Abisuga-Oyekunle & Fillis, 2017). Another challenge is to evaluate the preferences of visitors to buy different handicraft articles like earrings, frames or key chains. However, some knowledge has been generated on this issue because a previous work focused on the willingness to pay for different handicraft models and preferences. It was found that butterfly frames, pendants, lamps, picture frames and key chains were preferred (Cruz-Salas, 2011). Other countries, like Costa Rica and Papua New Guinea are examples of success in the sustainable use of the butterfly resource by rural communities. In part due to public policies and legislation that regulate the value chain, from the rearing of butterflies, their commercialization, diversification in products and by-products from the wings of butterflies (Montero, 2007; Hutton, 1985; New, 1994). Therefore, in Mexico is essential to regulate the management and use of the butterfly resource, because there are no restrictions on the capture of rare species when their populations are low, which may lead to be placed on the Red List index. Currently, the Official Mexican Standard NOM-059 (Secretaría de Medio Ambienté y Recursos Naturales [Semarnat], 2010) only protects the monarch and the Esperanza butterflies.

Finally, an important future step is to gain market share because there is an established handicraft component within the tourism activities (Jiménez-Castañeda et al., 2009). Therefore, as people in the rural locations usually have low income, it is highly advisable that government policies and activities support the initial stage in introducing new products or services (ITC, 2014; López-Delfín et al., 2018). Though some challenges have been outlined, it is difficult to generalize because artisans face different obstacles depending on their activity (Harris, 2014). For example, “Needle and Thread” artisans in India lack education, have low economic resources, and the institutional framework is weak (Shah & Patel, 2017). Pro poor tourism strategies aim to benefit marginalized urban and rural populations by increasing their opportunities in the tourism sector. However, it should be integrated into mainstream research (Harrison, 2008). Thus, while our study focused on populations in the rural communities, it also considers how they “fit” within the current tourism activities and recognizes its limitations.

The value of the handicraft market was estimated based on the model parameters and constants presented in table 4. Random variability was generated by bootstrap sampling of historic values, like numbers of tourirsts visiting the state of Veracruz and the proportion of expenditure allocated to buy handicrafts and souvenirs. The percentage of expenditure in handicrafts is close to the 5.5% value reported in tourism-related handicraft in Ethiopia (ITC, 2014). We estimated the variability of market share by consensus and used the Pert distribution to model such variable while we obtained a single value for the expenditure per tourist from a national survey (table 4). The sampling distribution of the potential annual value of butterfly-based handicrafts is shown in figure 2(A). The distribution is right-skewed (skewness = 0.031) and has a median value of US $259,482 with a 95% confidence interval between US $122,273 and US $438,971. The economic value for each tourist zone is presented in figure 2(B), the top 20% zones accounted for 69% of the total economic value. It is interesting to note that zone 03, Tajin, accounts for 7.8% of the potential economic value but due to the relatively low contribution of the other factors, it is ranked halfway in the grading scale. However, as mentioned before, to promote rural inhabitants into the souvenir market requires additional planning and training efforts, like identifying the value chain components and their challenges, for example, by promoting innovation and new designs or by overcoming the lack of suitable market outlets (ITC, 2014). Training programs are also required to enhance the competitiveness of the involved people in the established handicraft and souvenir market (ITC, 2014; Saragos-Méndez & Patriganni, 2012). In particular, training and certification by the government to achieve primary production and value addition is recommended, as occurs in Costa Rica where around 400 families produce butterflies (Montero, 2007; Umaña, 2019). Some of these issues have been addressed in Veracruz, like assessing the value and preference of different butterfly-based handicrafts as mentioned before (Cruz-Salas, 2011). Another example of the economic assessment is the use of pine needles to make handicrafts in Perote, Veracruz, where it was reported that the profit was similar to the national minimum wage (López-Serrano et al., 2018). Though we emphasize the economic aspect of handicraft trading, other non-mensurable values are associated to souvenirs, that is, they have sign, spiritual, cultural and use values (Paraskevaidis & Andriotis, 2015). For example, souvenirs are part of the cultural heritage of the Yoreme people in Sonora; they use the cocoons of R. cinta, a saturniid moth, to make ankle rattles used in ceremonial dances in religion tourism (Espinoza-López et al., 2016; Peigler & Maldonado, 2005).

Table 4. Table 4. Variables, constants, and parameters of the distribution models related to the estimation of the economic value of butterfly-based handicrafts in Veracruz, Mexico Source: own elaboration †

Statistics for years 2011-2015

Figure 2. Figure 2. Annual sampling distribution of the economic value of butterfly-based handicraft market in Veracruz, México at state level (A) and 95% confidence interval of the economic value per tourist zone, point is the median value (B) Source: own elaboration

Regarding the extraction of butterflies to make souvenirs, the information about the risks involved in marketing butterflies is scarce. Some guidelines have been proposed to mitigate risks related to the Butterfly House Industry, which is a network of stakeholders centered on butterfly exhibition centers, usually located in temperate places like the United States and Europe, and populated with species obtained from breeding and farming activities in tropical countries (Boppré & Vane-Wright, 2012; Veltman, 2009). In the case of butterfly-based souvenirs, it is a market segment that demands less management because it uses preserved or dissected specimens, which can be collected in different ways. Then, rearing and farming are not essential (Gómez-S, 2006). This research also considers species that have a wide distribution in the country (Jacinto-Padilla et al., 2017) and not listed as protected species, like the monarch butterfly and the Esperanza

butterfly (Semarnat, 2010). By excluding reserves, protected zones, and threatened species, this approach diminishes some issues found in other regions, like restricted access to tourists and potential reduction of butterfly populations (Goodwin, 2002; Putri, 2016).

As in other countries where butterflies are processed to create handicrafts, there is also a broad range of souvenirs that do not necessarily involve using actual butterflies. By tradition, people in Veracruz make souvenirs using the sea ecosystem as inspiration. Therefore, people can create t-shirts, mugs, and key rings with butterfly and insect themes (Lopez-Collado et al., 2016). This is occurring in the states of Puebla, Sinaloa and Sonora, where artisans are organized to use local natural resources to diversify the supply of souvenirs in rural areas and to increase their income (Hernández-Soto, 2014; Jouault & Pulido-Madariaga, 2014; Romero-García, 2014). Likewise, artisanship activities are considered as a cultural heritage that can support the economy in rural communities, for example, through religious tourism (Rivera-Cruz et al., 2008). The sustainability of butterfly-based handicraft marketing will depend upon the awareness of potential vendors to abide by the conservation practices aimed to protect the native butterfly populations and the willingness of tourist to accept management regulations (Bach & Burton, 2017).

Although this research addresses the tourism sector, there are other potential markets to expand the sales of butterfly-based handicrafts. For example, regional festivals and shows, public places like parks or gastronomic routes where people gather for eating, leisure and resting. Another option is by including butterflies in landscape management to create spaces for visitors to attend and enjoy these insects (Lemelin, 2009; Monterrubio et al., 2013). This activity requires a different spatial analysis to take into account the natural habitat and factors that enhance the potential of the butterflies to thrive in their natural conditions, that is, to diversify ecotourism activities (Çetinkaya et al., 2018; Wong & Fung, 2015). Rearing and selling live butterflies is a current, popular activity, which uses newer media for advertising like the internet. Thus, additional research is needed to address issues related to the economic value of these activities, the effect of specimen extraction on conservation and the competitiveness of this new activity within the established market. However, we consider this research as a first approach where specific factors were quantified and combined to better assess the opportunities of people to use these local natural resources in a planned way.