A Novelty Methodological Approach to Coastal Scenic Quality Evaluation—Application to the Moroccan Mediterranean Coast

Abstract

Many tourists around the world are interested in coastal sites of exceptional scenic quality. This paper aims to assess the landscape quality of 50 sites along the Moroccan Mediterranean coast based on a novelty Coastal Scenic Quality Evaluation (CSQE) method able to classify the attractiveness of the sites and to distinguish exceptional ones with high tourist potential. This proposed methodology relies on evaluating coastal areas through easily obtainable indicators in order to simplify its application to other regions around the world. Four landscape dimensions were selected: Substratum, Sea-Coastal Area, Vegetation and Scenic Background. Each dimension was numerically assessed and ranged from 0 to 1. The values of each dimension along the sites were classified as: <0.2 (very low); 0.2 to <0.4 (low); 0.4 to <0.6 (medium); 0.6 to <0.8 (high) and ≥0.8 (very high). The results show that the overall scenic quality score of the Moroccan Mediterranean coast is 0.6 (high quality), reflecting a potential tourist destination of high scenic value. Substratum, Sea-Coastal Area and Vegetation dimensions obtained a high quality score (0.6 to <0.8), while the Scenic Background dimension recorded medium quality (0.4 to <0.6). Urbanization, the presence of litter and sewage evidence were the main factors of degradation of the Moroccan coastal landscapes, i.e., 32 out of 50 sites (64%) obtained low scores (from 0 to 2) for these three variables. Sound management actions have to be taken to reduce their impacts, in order to preserve and improve the natural landscape, and strength its capacity to host the various tourist activities.

The Sector Analysis as a Coastal Management Tool for Sustainable Tourism Development on the Mediterranean Coast of Morocco

“…The distribution and most important characteristics of all the sites studied and the results of the Sector Analysis according to the three sectors (Green, Yellow and Red) are presented in this section. The sites are highly diversified ranging from class I to V according to landscape quality and from grade "B" to "D" according to the quantity of litter, and show the five typologies of the beaches [9,42]. The results are presented in Table 2 and Figures 3-5.…”

“…In class V, "B", "C" and "D" were observed, all located in urban areas. For more details on site classifications and characteristics see Er-ramy et al [9,42].…”

“…The beaches studied in this paper were evaluated and classified in grades according to their amount of litter [9] following the EA/NALG [44] technique, i.e., the Litter Grade or Beach grading system that has been widely used around the world. According to the EA/NALG classification system, four grades have been identified from "A" (excellent) to "D" (poor), to describe the aesthetic quality of a beach (Table 1).…”

“…These natural ecosystems play a fundamental role in coastal protection and disaster mitigation, nutrient cycling, biodiversity preservation and balance and tourism [4][5][6]. When choosing a tourist destination, coasts are probably the most attractive tourist places around the world [7][8][9]. The principal reason to visit coastal areas, particularly beaches, is to enjoy the pleasures of the Sea, Sun and Sand ("3S") tourism, the beauty of coastal landscapes and other tourist activities [10][11][12].…”

“…In this paper, 50 coastal sites along the Moroccan Mediterranean coast were evaluated and classified according to an innovative coastal management approach known as Sector Analysis [8], which integrates three factors extremely important to determine the quality of a beach: beach cleanliness, beach typology and coastal scenery. In a first study, carried out by Er-ramy et al [42], the coastal scenic quality assessment was successfully carried out on the investigated littoral zone using the Coastal Scenery Evaluation System (CSES, [43]) and, in a second study, beach cleanliness was investigated by means of the Litter Grade [44] as an important variable for beach users and the aesthetic quality of beaches [9]. The main objective of this paper is to study these three interdependent factors as important indicators in the perception of coastal zone management, in maintaining the growth of sustainable coastal tourism and in improving beach quality.…”