Tourism intensity ME-9

Marine Environment & Coastal Zones Pressure/Driving Force

1 Indicator definition and unit of measurement

Increase in number of tourists per annum per square kilometre of coastal zone.

2 Placement in the framework

5EAP:

Deals in detail with tourism, in chapter 4: Selected target sectors, section 4.5: Tourism.

Agenda 21:

Sees Tourism as major industry but points to down side and argues for more efforts towards “sustainable” tourism in Chapter 17: Protection of the oceans, seas and coastal areas and the protection, rational use and development of their living resources .

International conventions and agreements:

None, but some voluntary codes of conduct and international accreditation schemes used by tour operators and tourism industry also apply to tourism in the coastal zone.

Ranking:

Core ranking: 9 (32%)

Policy Relevance: 7 (3.0)

Analytical Soundness: 5 (3.0)

Responsiveness: 12 (2.5)

Most appropriate related state indicator:

Area per tourist in the coastal zone , or resources used (water, space, electricity) to supply tourist needs in given area of the coastal zone.

3 Significance

Purpose:

The purpose of this indicator is t o encapsulate the overall pressure brought by tourism to the coastal zone.

Relevance:

Tourism is one of the most important social and economic activities in Europe. It has grown by almost 5% per annum since the early 1970s. One major tourist destination is the coastal zone. While bringing economic and employment gains, tourism also uses up resources and different tourist activities can create a wide variety stress, damage and pollution in the host area.

Linkages to other pressure indicators:

Tourism is so wide and causes so many pressures that links ca n be seen to almost a ll others from transport, over habitat loss, over resource depletion etc.

Targets:

In EC Towards Sustainability 1997 many targets including better organisation of mass tourism, integrated coastal zone management plans to aid coastal tourism control, visitor management, buffer zones around sensitive areas, changing visitor behaviour, building environmental awareness in management of tourist areas etc.

4 Methodological description and underlying definitions

Underlying definitions and concepts:

High density resort constructions are not found offensive by tourist users, if miles of sea view are given gratis. Financially an extra incentive for building high and close to the shore. On the other hand those not in these blocks can see such development for miles and a tourist destination attractiveness depends largely on its environmental quality. Tourist loss and resulting impact on the local economy in some of the Spanish mass tourism resorts are well documented. This complex relationship between tourism and host environment may explain why so many attempts to define indicators and work towards sustainability can be found in this industry. It should be noted though, that as yet no universally accepted definition of sustainable tourism development exists and that the range of indicators already developed points to no easy answer with one pressure indicator covering the whole pressure complex arising from this industry.

Measurement methods:

The WTO has developed indicator classes to measure tourism pressure and impact including not just bed nights or water consumption per site, but also composite indicators linking site stress and destination attractiveness.

Limitations of the indicator:

There are severe limitations to the use of the tourism density indicator as proposed. Most importantly it does not take into account the visitor activity. A bird watcher is put into the same pot as a water scooter enthusiast. Also, as in many sites it is the day trip activity which causes the damage, focus on tourists (those overnighting in the area) overlooks a major pressure.

Alternative definitions:

Two routes may be seen:

• focus on difference between peak (summer) and off season population as pressure indication, measured in houses occupied, beds occupied, bins used, petrol sold in the coastal zone .

• measure of selected activities or overuse effects associated with the tourist as indicator - extra water consumption, trampling, littering, number of conflicts between nature and tourist use as recorded by wildlife rangers etc.

Comment:

This indicator is more a driving force than a direct pressure indicator . It does not match the others in the M arine Environment group and is difficult to marry with others unless remodelled. A study on the pros and cons of all existing tourism indicators would be beneficial as base to choose one.