Indicators in the study sites

Table of Contents

1. Compilers and contributors
2. Introduction
3. Climate indicators
4. Water indicators
5. Soil indicators
6. Vegetation indicators
7. Water runoff indicators
8. Forest fires indicators
9. Agriculture indicators
10. Cultivation indicators
11. Animal husbandry indicators
12. Land management indicators
13. Land use indicators
14. Water use indicators
15. Tourism indicators
    1. Tourism intensity
    2. Tourism change
16. Human characteristics indicators
17. Institutional indicators
18. Conclusions
19. References

Tourism intensity

This indicator shows the average distribution of tourists and gives a general indication of pressures on natural resources, with regard to a reference period (year) or during a peak season. The Mediterranean region is the third most preferred international tourist destination and the first for European tourists, accommodating around 218 million visitors every year. According to the World Tourism Organization tourists' movement in the Mediterranean would increase in the near future. It is estimated than by the year 2025 the region would receive 396 million international and 273 million domestic tourists.

Tourism intensity is defined as the number of overnights stays by tourists per 10 square kilometres per annum and in peak season. It is a regional indicator covering broad areas. It has been calculated for the study sites by dividing the number of overnight stays (including second homes) with regard to a reference period (year) or within a peak season by the area of 10 square kilometres. The following classes have been defined for this project: (a) low, number of overnight stays / 10 km² areas = R <0.01; (b) moderate, R=0.01-0.04, (c) high, R=0.04-0.08; and (d) very high, R>0.08.

Data for this indicator were defined for 1342 field sites, corresponding to 15 study sites (Table 13). As Fig. 93 shows, the prevailing tourist intensity is low, covering 80.8% of the study field site. Such tourism intensity has been found in all study field sites of the study sites of Djanybek-Russia, Secano Interior-Chile, Nestos Basin Maggana-Greece, Eskisehir-Turkey, Guadalentin Basin Murcia-Spain, Mamora Sehoul-Morocco, Cointzio Catchment-Mexico, Gois-Portugal, and Mação- Portugal, and is some areas of the study sites of Boteti Area-Botswana, Novij Saratov-Russia, Santiago Island-Cape Verde, Zeuss Koutine-Tunisia, Eskisehir-Turkey, and Crete-Greece. The next important class of tourism intensity is moderate, covering 14.2% of the study field sites, and corresponding to the study sites of Boteti Area-Botswana, Novij Saratov-Russia, Santiago Island-Cape Verde, Zeuss Koutine-Tunisia, Konya Karapinar plain-Turkey, Cointzio Catchment-Mexico, and Crete-Greece. High tourism intensity has been identified in 4.9% of the study sites, corresponding to few cases of the Crete-Greece study site (Fig. 93).

Fig. 93. Distribution of tourism intensity classes defined in the study field sites