Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1. A strategy of
destination renewal
and the reorganisation of accommodation and tourism-
related activities. This strategy is based on the unavoidable need to correct the defi cits and
structural imbalances in mass coastal destinations caused by the precariousness of regula-
tory systems during the various phases of tourism expansion, which was the case in Spain
and many destinations in the Mediterranean, mainly during the 1960s and 70s. This is a
strategy very much oriented towards resolving immediate urban development needs by
reordering and replenishing infrastructures (roads, fi lter systems, local public spaces,
promenades, maritime walkways, parking zones, etc.) and is of course linked to improving
the image and general condition of destinations.
2. A strategy of
destination differentiation
implemented via the development of new products.
This strategy is based on the generation of leisure facilities that give new amusement and
entertainment opportunities for visitors, new forms of social interaction between visitors
and residents and even new ways for informal learning. The development of such strategies
has been an important factor in specialisation that has reinforced and diversifi ed the basic
conditions of mass coastal destinations as sun, sea and sand environments and that has
added value to the experience of visitors as well as increased income to private sector
tourism agents (see Anton Clavé, 2010; Briassoulis, 2007; Vera Rebollo and Baños, 2010).
3. A strategy of creating a climate of
sustainability in mass coastal destinations.
This strategy has
three axes of action. First, the use of cultural and environmental values that provide
identity to each specifi c destination (often incorporating the characteristics and
recreational opportunities of adjacent places with high landscape values or agr icultural and
farming spaces into the destinations' image). Secondly, the participation of destinations in
sustainability networks and the incorporation and implementation of control instruments
and environmental checks both in companies and in destinations following procedures
such as the ISO Norm 14.001 or the EMAS Regulations (see, for instance Vera Rebollo
and Ivars, 2003). Finally, some mass coastal destinations have elaborate models of integral
development and organisation that accentuate not only tourism's relative success but
also the improvements to the quality of life of residents in the destination, its global
competitiveness and the environmental sustainability of tourism and related practices
(Calvià in the Balearic Islands was pioneering in this respect, as stated in Dodds, 2007).
Competitiveness and vulnerability in mass coastal destinations facing
global challenges
Worldwide, several dynamics can be observed in mass coastal destinations. Among them are:
(1) destinations that maintain the stability of their accommodation supply and demand;
(2) destinations that keep their accommodation supply stable but experience a decline
in demand; (3) destinations that increase their accommodation stock but lose demand;
(4) emergent destinations that experience an intense growth in accommodation supply;
(5) destinations that, still undergoing consolidation, experience an above-average growth in
accommodation supply and maintain and/or slightly increase demand; and (6) destinations
that experience a decline in accommodation supply and in overnights. Such indicators and
typologies allow us to have a clear differentiation between destinations according to their
specifi c evolution (for a specifi c case, see Curtis, 1997).
In explaining these different dynamics, we might raise the hypothesis that mass coastal
destinations have been affected by deep structural changes and have experienced differential
effects depending on their specifi c characteristics. In fact, the social, economic and spatial
