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Humanities
- ISSN: 2155-7993
- Journal of Modern Education Review
The Assessment of Beach Carrying Capacity:
The Case of Dhermi Destination
Genci Pasko
(University of Tirana, Albania)
Abstract: Coastal areas in Albania are recognized as the country’s great assets both from the development and environmental point of view. Their scenic beauty, favourable climate, diversity of ecosystems, rich cultural and historical heritage have attracted the major share of tourism investments, which due to the lack of the proper legislation and limited institutional capacity have exerted negative effects on their sustainable usage. Thus, the proper planning and implementation of a sound tourism policy together with beach carrying capacity assessment (CCA) take a paramount importance for sustainable development of the coastal areas. This research paper aims to define the carrying capacity thresholds for Dhërmi beach as a prerequisite for tourism planning and development. The methodology used to estimate CCA is based on physical conditions of the study area and its management and support infrastructure. The preliminary assessment of beach CCA for Dhërmi is estimated at 6,648 beach users/day and indicates that it is still in higher level as compared to current tourist activities of the last year. Nevertheless, taking into account the large number of tourists frequenting it, as well as current undergoing investments, TCC assessment should be used as a guide to prevent this coastal area from degradation and manage sound tourism investments in the future.
Keywords: sustainable tourism development, coastal areas; carrying capacity assessment, dhërmi beach, physical, real and effective carrying capacity.
