Blue Flag Beaches Economic Growth, Tourism and Sustainable Management

This book presents a comprehensive study of the role that the Blue Flag beach program has played around the world, considering economic, social and environmental perspectives. Since its creation in the 1980s, The Blue Flag program awards the management of beaches and marinas based on sustainability, services and quality of their management. To date there are currently close to five thousand awards around the world. Forty years on from the program's creation, this book provides a thorough evaluation of the program, to understand how it has evolved over time, the successes it has enjoyed and the challenges it has overcome, and may face in the future. As an international program, this book reflects the global nature of this program and actively discusses, examines and assesses the different realities and challenges faced by different countries around the world, drawing on case studies from across Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa and Asia. It examines the impact of the award on economic growth, from local to national, environmental protection and education, the development of sustainable tourism, and the sustainable management of beaches. The volume also contributes to emerging debates surrounding the certification of natural resources, where the Blue Flag program has been a pioneer in this field. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of sustainable tourism, environmental economics, coastal and beach management, environmental conservation and sustainable development.

General introduction María A. Prats and Fernando Merino 1. Origin, first steps and forthcoming challenges to the Blue Flag José R. Sánchez Moro 2. The Blue Flag programme, at national and international levels: What, why, how, and where to? Nikos Petrou andJohann Durand 3. Blue Flags in the world: a bibliometric analysis Fernando Merino andMaría A. Prats 4. Social, political and managerial perspectives on Blue Flag beach certification Seweryn Zielinski andCamilo M. Botero 5. Does the Blue Flag program contribute to the schievement of the Sustainable Development Goals? José A. Albaladejo-García andJosé A. Zabala 6. Dive in Blue Flags: A historical evolution in Europe María Escrivá-BeltránandRosa Currás-Móstoles 7. The path of Blue Flag in Latin America and the Caribbean: History, challenges and learnings Camilo M. Botero, Paloma Arias andLourdes Diaz 8. Impact of Blue Flags on local economy in Spain Ana B. Ramón-Rodríguez, Teresa Torregrosa, Luis Moreno-Izquierdo andJose F. Perles-Ribes 9. Blue Flag supporting implementation of environmental policies and nature conservation: The case of Greece Nikos Petrou, Dareia-Nefeli Vourdoumpa andChara Agaoglou 10. Blue Flag and tourism destination efficiency: The French case Aurélie Corne, Olga Goncalves, Nicolas Peypoch 11. The challenge of sustainability in territorial development: The impact of Blue Flag on tourism –The Italian context Francesco Manta, Giulio Fusco andPierluigi Toma 12. Blue Flags on islands in the Republic of Croatia Kristina Bucar, Izidora Markovic Vukadin andZvjezdana Hendija 13. The impact on the local economy of having coastal areas with Blue Flag: The Turkish case Zeliha Eser andSelay Ilgaz Sümer 14. Blue Flag South Africa: Reflections on a decade of progress Serena Lucrezi andPeet van der Merwe 15. Challenges and opportunities of the Blue Flag certification in Canada Rachel Dodds andMark Holmes 16. Managing paradise: Reflections on the management of Mexican beaches with the Blue Flag label Omar Cervantes, Aramis Olivos-Ortiz, Jerónimo Ramos Saenz Pando, Dora MaríaCastro-Linares andItzel Sosa-Argáez 17. Blue Flag in Brazil: Beginning and growth Marinez Scherer, Leana Bernardi, Isabela Keren GregorioKerber andAlessandra Pfuetzenreuter 18. Blue Flag in India: Beacons for sustainable coastal management Sujeetkumar M. Dongre, Shriji Kurup and Sanskriti Menon 19. The status of Blue Flag in Japan: Can Blue Flag be used for beach community development as a sustainable tourist destination? Norie Hirata and Susumu Kawahara General conclusions María A. Prats and Fernando Merino

María A. Prats is Professor of Applied Economics at Universidad de Murcia, Spain, and Visiting Senior Fellow at the European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom. Fernando Merino is Professor of Applied Economics at Universidad de Murcia, Spain.