Plan Bleu's activities

In the Mediterranean, tourism is a vibrant sector in terms of economic growth; yet, it is also a priority issue with regard to sustainable development. This is due to the economic, social and environmental challenges it represents.

In its capacity as an observatory of the environment and sustainable development in the Mediterranean and of the Regional Activities Centres (RACs) of UNEP/MAP (Mediterranean Action Plan), Plan Bleu is credited with several prospective studies and analyses on the topic of tourism, and this, on regional, national and local scale. More information about tourism publications ...

This is further attested by the fact that tourism figures as a priority topic in the Strategic Action Framework 2007-2015 of Plan Bleu.

See the Strategic Action Framework 2007-2015 for tourism sector ...

There are, currently, four projects in progress:

• “Energy Management: Air Transport and Tourism in the Mediterranean”: The overall objective is to inform decision-makers and operators, both in inbound countries and outbound ones, about the possible options likely to reduce GHG emissions due to tourism air transport.
• “Cruising and Yachting in the Mediterranean: Equipments and Infrastructures, Pollutions and Wastes”: This consists in identifying the improvements needed in order to significantly mitigate the adverse impacts of water tourism, and this, based on assessment of the needs in equipments and infrastructures for the development of water tourism in the Southern and Eastern rims of the Mediterranean, while taking into consideration the necessity to minimise their impacts on the land and marine areas, as well as the pollutions generated thereby, the production of wastes due to the cruising and yachting activity and, finally, the existing means of treatment and management.
• “Sustainability Profiles in a Few Tourism Destinations in the Mediterranean”: The evaluation of the economic, ecological and social footprint of tourism will help identify the ways and means likely to boost the performance of the tourism sector for the well-being of the local communities. The objective is to provide a differentiated and detailed overview of the Mediterranean tourism destinations from a sustainability perspective. It is also envisioned to provide, based on the method used, a common tool for monitoring the promotion of a sustainable tourism in the Mediterranean.
• “Testing the Tourism Additional Indicators for Monitoring the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development (MSSD)”: The promotion of a sustainable tourism has been identified as one of the seven priority axes of the MSSD which recommends various orientations and actions for the sector. Priority and additional criteria were selected in 2005 and in 2007 in order to help conduct periodical review of the progress status of the implementation of the MSSD guidance with regard to tourism. The testing of the tourism additional indicators is in progress: for each indicator, a methodological sheet and a presentation sheet have been designed.

Tourism Working Programme 2009-2011

The Plan Bleu's working programme 2009-2011 for tourism results from the Experts Meeting held in November 2008, following the Regional Workshop "Promoting sustainable tourism in the Mediterranean" (July 2008). More information about this working programme ... 

Observation: Tourism contributes to economic growth, but the
sustainability of the sector requires a more equitable
redistribution of tourism earnings

In the Mediterranean, the tourism and recreation sector is generally considered as the chief economic activity of the region. Though difficult to evaluate, direct and indirect employment generated by tourism remains the most tangible form of the wealth produced by the sector: indeed, despite the new forms of “dematerialization”, tourism remains a high labour-intensive activity. And yet, the jobs created in the tourism sector do not all benefit the local population: one may mention, for instance, the overseas training and recruitment of skilled staff.

Tourism is highly vulnerable to the political and economic risks pertaining to the international situation. Such events as the second Intifada (2000) or the attacks of 11 September 2001 had triggered a downturn in tourism activity in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Countries (SEMCs) in the early 2000s. Besides, the current economic crisis adversely impacts the tourism activity: the decline in the market share of the Northern Mediterranean Countries (NMCs) has not been as yet offset by the progress of tourism in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean rims and in the Balkans.

Although representing the top global tourism destination, the Mediterranean countries have not achieved full control over the development of this sector and its impacts. The development of Mediterranean tourism belongs in the context of a globalization that is defined at once as an internationalisation of flows and a horizontal and vertical concentration of operators: gradually, there arise giant operators in control of the whole range of tourism production stages. In this regard, globalization is fraught with risks, since it leads to a standardisation of products and gives an edge to the dominant market players over weaker ones. Major European tourism operators play a key role in the development of a given destination and reduce the local operators’ room for manoeuvre and profitability.

The opacity characterising the flow and distribution of the earnings of the tourism sector does not facilitate a shift of policies towards a more equitable distribution of earnings.

Likely future scenario: Greater damage to the environment and
pressures on natural resources, inducing loss of biodiversity

Tourism activities inflict two series of impacts on the environment: those related to transit and those related to stays. The tourism environmental impacts are exacerbated by their seasonal concentration (summer and school holidays) and area concentration (coastline, mountains, certain cities, certain major sites). In the long run, these impacts may turn out to be responsible for a loss of attractiveness of the destinations.

The study of the impacts related to tourism transit reveals that these flows are a major source of pollution. Tourism activities in the Mediterranean remain strongly dependent on air transport, especially for the SEMCs and for insular territories. However, international tourism in the Mediterranean is marked by a highly sub-regional character resting on proximity: in 2006, Algerians and Libyans accounted for 37% of total tourism inflows in Tunisia; in Turkey, 30% of the tourists come from central and eastern Europe; in Italy, 40% of the tourists come from Germany, France and Austria; in Slovenia, 43% of the tourists come from Hungary, Austria, Italy and Croatia. This proximity tourism prioritizes the use of land transport modes, the road claiming the lion’s share.

As the plane and the car are given priority order, these trends contribute to an increase in air pollution and GHG emissions. Given the prevalence of proximity tourism, “rail and bus” alternatives could be fostered in order to encourage tourists to use less energy-consuming transport modes. Such a modal shift requires the development of new transit strategies, through a greater use of the railway network, for instance.

The study of the environmental impacts related to tourism-stays reveals that, as Mediterranean tourism is quite largely of a seaside type, the facilities constructed on the coastline contribute to an “artificialisation” of the coasts, an alteration of the landscape and a loss of natural environments and of biodiversity. The development of pleasure cruising contributes, on its part, to the exacerbation of these phenomena via the construction of ports and of large area-consuming marinas. There are further adverse impacts pertaining to this growing activity: destruction of shoals, disruption of coastal current dynamics and chemical and bacteriological pollution.

Finally, the seasonal and seaside character of Mediterranean tourism draws a high population density to holiday sites, which exerts pressures on the water resources and natural environments, and induces energy consumption peaks, as well as an increase in the production of wastes. To this, there must be added the social impact of tourism: feeling of summer invasion, inflation and soaring real estate prices, “culture shocks”, etc. All these are liable to give rise to tensions between tourists and the local population.

Alternatives: Diversification of tourism and optimisation of a as yet
under-tapped potential. What alternatives for the "all coastline"
and the “Sea – Sun – Sand” trilogy

The sustainable development of Mediterranean tourism requires a diversification of the tourism supply by fully tapping the Mediterranean diversity potential: eco-tourism, as well as cultural, urban and rural tourism. Such a diversification requires, in its turn, a boosting of the non-seaside supply which, according to the objectives of the MSSD, could redirect a third of the coastline-bound tourism flows.

In Italy, the non-seaside supply accounted in 2004 for around 42% of the tourism bed-capacity. In Israel, where the major part of tourism entries is connected with pilgrimage and family visits, the non-seaside supply is predominant: 77% in 2004. On the other hand, the non-seaside supply remains insignificant in several insular destinations: in Malta, it accounted for a mere 3.8% in 2005.

The frequenting of natural environments increases over the years. The challenge consists in optimising the tourism attractiveness of a protected area while minimizing the effects on the ecosystems and avoiding the inducing of multiple environmental impacts. The question at issue is the following: How to strike balance between a tourism optimisation of protected areas and the safeguard of these same areas?

Besides the area-diversification of tourism in favour of non-seaside destinations, an alternative would consist in mitigating the seasonal character of tourism, and this, with a view to gaining control over the environmental impacts that are concentrated within a few weeks in the year. Seasonality depends, from a supply perspective, on the motives and expectations of tourists; in Europe, the organisation of school holiday patterns drives summer-season frequenting. Yet, these two components of space and time are intimately connected: the countries or destinations having succeeded in diversifying their supply manage to spread their tourism frequenting throughout the year. This is the case, for instance, of Côte d’Azur in France (the French Riviera), thanks notably to business tourism, fairs and festivals, even though tourism seasonality remains quite significant there.

For more information : Download the chapter "Tourism" from the State of the Environment and Development in the Mediterrranean 2009

THE FIGURES

In 2007, the Mediterranean countries received 275 million international tourists, that is, around 30% of the global aggregate.

Up to 2025, inflows are likely to reach 637 million tourists in the Mediterranean countries, of which 312 million in the coastal regions alone.

THE MAP

Tourist destinations studied in the project Sustainability Profiles 2009-2011

THE FIGURE

International tourism earnings stood at over 208 billion US$ in 2006 for the Mediterranean countries as a whole, which represents an average spending of 803 US$ per international tourist.

THE GRAPH

Share of employement in the tourism sector - 2009

THE FIGURES

Air transport is significantly on the increase for tourism flows in the Mediterranean: from 23% of the arrivals in 1988 to 40% in 2006. However, the arrival of international tourists still takes place, for the major part, by road: 52% in 2006, as against 67% in 1988. Cut down by 3 between 1988 and 2006, arrivals by rail experience a slump, while arrivals by sea have picked up slightly: +2% over the same period.

THE GRAPHS

Arrivals of tourists by mode of transport - 2006

Average distance between marinas in the Mediterranean countries, 2008 (km)

THE GRAPHS

Distribution of the tourism beds in Slovenia (Thousands)

Distribution of hotels and rooms per category on the Côte d’Azur (France) (2006)