Disentangling Trade-Offs Between the State of Coastal Ecosystems with Human Well-Being and Activities as a Strategy Addressing Sustainable Tourism

Abstract

Coastal tourism is a major driver for the local and regional economy of many Mediterranean areas. At the same time, this industry generates threats that, added to those produced by other coastal human activities, substantially damage the coastal and marine environment. A damaged environment cannot provide many fundamental benefits for coastal tourism itself, such as for instance clear water, coastal protection and natural beauty. We propose a framework for unravelling the threats and benefits related to coastal tourism, and we present two lists of indicators of coastal tourism sustainability, to monitor the impact of coastal tourism on the natural environment (threat indicators), and to assess which threat mitigation measures can counteract it (enabling factor indicators).