Data availability and accessibility for sustainable tourism: An assessment involving different European coastal tourism destinations

Abstract

Implementation of sustainable tourism practices is influenced by the availability and accessibility of relevant data; both as a means of progress evaluation and providing information to key stakeholders, e.g. regulators, service providers and visitors. A number of European coastal sites, of differing tourism profiles, were examined in the context of their capacity to assess sustainable tourism practices. An indicator-based approach, using environmental, socio-cultural and economic criteria, formed the basis for the assessment undertaken as part of the QualityCoast programme. The QualityCoast programme was developed as an EU INTERREG IIIC project - Coastal Practice Network (CoPraNet) to assist municipalities in improving sustainability performance. Results indicate that a number of commonalities and disparities exist between the sites assessed, notably in terms of data format, access and availability. Measures for consideration are proposed as a means of overcoming the operational challenges facing coastal managers and practitioners involved with promoting sustainable tourism.