The Master's Program in Management and Ecological Tourism combines sustainability and tourism in an educational program, in a high quality education program, with professionals and experts, in a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach that allows improving product competitiveness and increasing cultural, social and environmental sensitivity. In order to determine the role of academia in sustainable tourism, we asked experts in the area. It should be to unify tourism development with sustainability, which requires knowledge applied to management. The demand for qualified personnel grows as this type of tourism increases. There are no educational alternatives to professionalize sustainable tourism. It is a fact in this field that local graduates do not find an outlet in the labour market, while companies complain that graduates do not respond to their needs. So, there is a mismatch between training and the labour market in Sustainable Tourism, which generates a training need. The areas in which education is needed are management, good practices, administration, economic resources, marketing and communication. The students are professionals and recent graduates. Professionals want to apply concepts of sustainability to their work, to expand knowledge and start new projects or to undertake an ecotourism project. Recent graduates have a sustainable mentality and lifestyle and want to orient their professional life in this sector and deepen knowledge about ecotourism. This program is taught online, and often this causes contradictions, so students were asked regarding the advantages and disadvantages of e-Learning methodology. The advantages of studying online are self-organization of time, self-taught research, comfort, costs savings, possibility of studying anywhere, to be able to combine master with work and daily life conciliation. Regarding disadvantages, some students do not see any, and other say there is no direct contact with teachers or other students, they don't live the university environment, the sensation of "loneliness" and difficulties in understanding.

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The state of Oaxaca is one of the most economically depressed in Mexico, and this has been recently aggravated by various geopolitical and ecological events that make the lives of its inhabitants even more precarious. There is a strong interest in accelerating the state’s development with sustainable alternatives. Within the neighbouring communities of La Ventanilla and La Escobilla in the Coast of Oaxaca, the promotion of the protection and productive use of sea turtles through ecotourism has been introduced. However, the two communities have observed different socio-economic development rates. This article aims to analyse these two case studies and why La Ventanilla has made ecotourism its livelihood, whereas, in La Escobilla, it has been a source of problems. The objective is, therefore, to analyse the evolution of their ecotourism initiatives and draw a comparison between both communities to understand the differences. This objective was evaluated through surveys, expert observation, and subsequent SWOT analyses (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats). In the next step, TOWS Optimum Strategic Alternative matrices were created to establish strategies for future proposals. The authors found a clear disparity between the two communities in terms of Strengths—La Ventanilla is 55% higher than La Escobilla— and Weaknesses—La Escobilla is 43% higher than La Ventanilla. The possible suggested causes could be “sanctuary status”, “urban planning”, “different origins of the problems”, “diversification of the ecotourism product”, and “external focus”. Consequently, community empowerment, sustainable urban planning, the creation of a diversification plan for ecotourism activities, or a dissemination strategy, in addition to project proposals with external research organisations and NGOs, are considered essential strategies for the success of the ecotourism plan and thus for the sustainable development and conservation of sea turtles.

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