Coastal tourism. The economy and the environment

Abstract

The environment is a major component in the tourist production and the tourist product. This is particularly evident in the case of coastal tourism. However, for the natural resources to be part of the tourist product, important transformations are needed in the space. That is why we say that tourist development involves the creation of a tourist territory. However, when the regional transformations define the tourist model and intensity of the natural resources, we also define the model and intensity of the environmental impact of the tourist development, with the subsequent loss in the quality of the tourist product. In front of this loss, any policies aiming at improving the quality of the tourist product must include obligatory regional planning performance, that is, a regional planning policy.