The MCDM-AHP technique was used for impact assessment of tourism on socioeconomic development in the coastal area with respondents’ point of view. The responses from native people were recorded using questionnaires through interviews about selected nine criteria including accessibility and connectivity, amenities, health care facilities, business, employability, standard of living, cultural values, agriculture and fisheries, and immovable properties. The literature review, fieldwork and experts’ opinions are fundamental keys to select the criteria and determination of ranks. About 35.55% respondents reported higher impact of tourism, 29.14% respondents informed moderate impact, 25.69% respondents reported less impact and 9.62% respondents reported very less impact of tourism activities on development in the region. The development of reported criteria varies according the beach area and relative location of the beaches on the shoreline. The beaches located far south and away from district headquarter show relatively less development. The focus of investment should be concentrated on development of the accessibility and connectivity, required amenities, health care facilities, small-scale business, employability, cultural values, agriculture and fisheries to improve the tourism activities for improving standard of living of native people in the region. The methodology, techniques and results achieved in this study can be useful for planning and monitoring the tourism activities for sustainable and uniform development in the similar areas.

Tourism is a device of economic development in developed, developing, and even in underdeveloped countries. The AHP based MCDA techniques used for detection and delineation of the tourism potential zones in the coastal area of Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra (India). The conventional and satellite data viz. ASTER data has been used for spatial analysis in GIS software. Seacoast, elevation, slope, river, LULC, available amenities, accessibility and connectivity, cultural and historical places, and density of settlements used as the criterions for detection of potential zones for tourism activities. The experts’ opinions, literature survey and fieldwork used as the source of information for the selection of criterions and determination of ranks. The weighted overlay technique used to find the comparative levels of tourism potentials: very high, high, moderate and less potentials for tourism. About 13% of TGA shows comparatively very high tourism potential, 25.80% shows high, 54.62 % shows moderate, and 6.57 % shows less tourism potential. The overall accuracy of the categorized map estimated about 89.60%. The thematic maps viz. amenities and settlement were processed using inverse distance weighted (IWD) interpolation technique. Therefore, some areas from the category, ‘high potential’ merged in the category, ‘moderate potential’ and reduced the producer’s accuracy of the classified map. The sandy beaches, lowland area with a gentle slope, river landscape features, road network, cultural and historical places, ideal size of settlements and number of amenities are attractions of tourists in the region. The technique used in this study can be an effective apparatus for precise analysis of site suitability for tourism activities.