Management priorities and carrying capacity at a high-use beach from tourists' perspectives: A way towards sustainable beach tourism

- Procedures of finding management priorities and carrying capacity of a high-use tourist beach were established.
- Cleanliness, safety, information provision, sediment management, and overcrowding were areas for priority action.
- Focus group discussion was used as a participative approach to establish potential actions targeting management priorities.

The growth of beach tourism has increased the need for acceptable, practical and sustainable policies. Overcrowding, sand loss, habitat destruction, littering, water pollution, among others problems, are commonly documented arising from booming beach activities. The objective of this paper was to identify management priorities and estimate carrying capacity of a high-use beach from tourists' perspectives. In this way, managers can make informed decisions, leading to enhanced beach quality. Specific procedures to fulfill this objective were progressively established to identify potential actions that address the concerns facing the beach environment. A body of data was collected by means of questionnaires. Results showed that beach cleanliness, safety, information provision, sediment and habitat management, and overcrowding were considered important by tourists, reflecting the areas of priority for actions. If a policy is set to avoid tourists overcrowding, the carrying capacity limit was estimated to be 680 people at one time and 2040 people on a daily basis. In this scenario, a tourist enjoys on average 22.06 square meters of the beach space. Results from focus group discussion suggest a list of potential actions targeting these management priorities. This helps to build a participative policy approach to sustainable beach development. Finally, taking special care in putting the management priorities into practice was discussed to facilitate beach management.