Planning Tourism in Protected Natural Areas: Safety, Soft Law and Conflict Management between Beach Users. The Case of Surf in Aljezur, Portugal

Virgílio Machado, Joaquim Pinto Contreiras and Ana Patrícia Duarte
Additional contact information
Virgílio Machado: Research Center for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-Being, The University of the Algarve, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
Joaquim Pinto Contreiras: Research Center for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-Being, The University of the Algarve, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
Ana Patrícia Duarte: Business Research Unit (BRU-IUL), Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 19, 1-14

Abstract: The intensification of tourism in coastal areas can increase planning problems, with potential conflicts amongst beach users affecting their safety perceptions and, ultimately, their tourist experience. Therefore, this constitutes an important concern for local authorities. The present study was conducted on an environmentally sensitive tourism destination located in a protected natural area in the Algarve, Portugal, with a quite significant level of surf tourism activities-the Aljezur municipality. In total, 245 surfers and 282 bathers were surveyed as these beach user groups have been observed to have a potential for intergroup conflict. Data were collected regarding their perceptions of personal safety, conflicts between beach users, and conflict management strategies. The respondents were also surveyed regarding how local authorities can provide strategies of soft law for a more sustainable management of surfing tourism. The findings revealed a consensus about the safety of Aljezur beaches and existence of perceived low conflict levels amongst beach users. The strategies more valued by respondents to promote surfing tourism development in the territory include the preservation of the natural resources and the developed of local regulation. Overall, these findings can be useful to the sustainable management of the surfing tourism in the territory.

Keywords: tourism planning; surf tourism; beach users; conflict management; protected natural areas; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/19/10739/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/19/10739/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:19:p:10739-:d:644459

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().