dossier sur le tourisme et le développement durable

Political scope
2. The Mediterranean tourism system: diversity and
complexity
2.1. The destination: basic unit for tourism development policies
The diversity of the destinations
Tourist destinations are characterised by their diversity, whether by their geography, their
natural and cultural assets or the type of economy developed there. Each destination is the
result of a combination of internal and external factors. The tools and policies that need to be
developed will depend on the local interests and on the system of control set up there. This
diversity exists at both countries and destinations levels.
The life-cycles of the tourist destinations
The distinctions made between the destinations, mature, developing, emerging, have to be
placed in a more dynamic context. Tourist resorts have stages of development that reflect the
environment, investments or control in very different ways. A resort is a group of products that
have their own life cycles. If these products are created at the same time, the life-cycles could
cross and the resort could then experience a period of stagnation or even decline if
development is not well planned: the number of tourists stagnates or goes down, as do the
average expenditure, profits and value for money. Fashion, changes in consumer tastes or
consumer boredom (local, national, then international markets are exhausted), outside factors
(a more recent competing resort), or simply the ageing of the accommodation, facilities and
equipment impose a renewal phase, a reinvestment phase or even a change of product or
restructuring.
Besides this, the position of a destination in the issue of tourism and the environment depends
on its place in the life cycle of the resorts. In emerging destinations tourism with little impact on
the environment should be created. In fully developing destinations the emphasis is first of all on
managing the fast rise in accommodation and ensuring the preservation of natural
environments. In the mature destinations the existing products have to be managed or
transformed or the destroyed natural environments have to be restored.
The objective is to set off a virtual circle in which tourism development generates resources for
the State and local bodies in order to improve the environment and thus to improve the image of
the destination and promote tourism development. A circle involving deterioration of the resort
can function in the opposite way. It is therefore important to invest in the environment when
tourism is generating high resources. Even more important, the irreversible has to be avoided
(irremediably destroyed landscapes, chronic problems concerning the bad quality of bathing
water, etc.) and in this case building and urbanization have to have a set of rules, tourism has to
be planned in advance. The environment should be taken into account at the start of the
projects. It is sometimes too late to act when tourism begins to generate resources for
environmental protection.
Frame 15: The orientations of the mature destinations on the Catalonian coast (Lloret del Mar, L’Estartit and Sitges)
The resorts of the Spanish coast are often quoted as examples of destinations where the ageing of
the bad planned facilities (bad overall and environmental quality, excessive seaside specialization),
together with economic factors, have brought about a strong decline in the number of tourists,
necessitating in-depth reorganising and re-planning of the resorts and this is still underway.
Lloret del Mar began its development as a tourist resort in the 1950s. This development was based
on rapid development for low-cost holidays. The local authorities financed the development in a
limited way and there was therefore poor planning. By the end of the 1980s the high numbers of
hotels in the resort allowed tour operators to negotiate discounts of up to 30% that affected the
quality of the offer. Poor service, unskilled staff, congestion in the city centre and lack of alternatives
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