Abstract
Beach and coastal land managers have responsibility for the biophysical and human aspects pertaining to sensitive and valuable ecosystems. This responsibility presents complex management challenges that must consider, and often balance, multiple objectives concerning spatial, ecological, social, cultural, and economic elements. This process will commonly follow a strategic framework underpinned by plans designed to meet set objectives cognisant of limits set by acceptable change. This outcome requires accurate, relevant and timely data for good decision-making. One source of required data pertains to human use of beach environments. In this regard, a range of methods and tools exist to measure and assess this use. Decisions on suitable methods, tools and data collection strategies are made normally in the context of the benefits and costs associated with data collection purpose, intended data use, and the physical nature of the location of interest. For example, beach use estimates may be obtained using indicators such as vehicle numbers in beach-adjacent car parks. Counting technology may also be employed at suitable locales to measure and record traffic flow. Dedicated sampling methods may utilise aerial or land based imaging or direct-observer counts. Regardless of the methods used, information on human use of beach environments has a range of important and beach relevant purposes including assessment of environmental impacts, visitor safety management, planning for visitor amenities, and destination marketing. The chapter highlights the importance of suitable tools and methods to measure beach users for improving beach planning and management at local, regional and global levels.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Amorim RC, Rocha A, Oliveira M, Ribeiro C (2016) Efficient delivery of forecasts to a nautical sports mobile Application with semantic data services. In: proceedings of the ninth international C* conference on Computer Science & Software Engineering, 2016. ACM, pp 7–12
Ariza E, Jiménez JA, Sardá R (2008) A critical assessment of beach management on the Catalan coast. Ocean Coast Manag 51(2):141–160
Australian Government (2016) The beach. http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/beach. Accessed 14 Sep 2016
Bailey G (2004) World prehistory from the margins: the role of coastlines in human evolution. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in History and Archaeology:39–50
Bearzi G, Agazzi S, Gonzalvo J, Costa M, Bonizzoni S, Politi E, Piroddi C, Reeves RR (2008) Overfishing and the disappearance of short-beaked common dolphins from western Greece. Endanger Species Res 5(1):1–12
Bedri Z, Corkery A, O'Sullivan JJ, Deering LA, Demeter K, Meijer WG, O'Hare G, Masterson B (2016) Evaluating a microbial water quality prediction model for beach management under the revised EU bathing water directive. J Environ Manag 167:49–58
Bentz J, Lopes F, Calado H, Dearden P (2016) Sustaining marine wildlife tourism through linking limits of acceptable change and zoning in the wildlife tourism model. Mar Policy 68:100–107
Berry A, Fahey S, Meyers N (2013) Changing of the guard: adaptation options that maintain ecologically resilient sandy beach ecosystems. J Coast Res 29(4):899–908
Beunen R, Jaarsma CF, Kramer RN (2004) Counting of visitors in the Meijendel dunes, The Netherlands. J Coast Conserv 10(1):109–118
Blythe J (2015) Resilience and social thresholds in small-scale fishing communities. Sustain Sci 10(1):157–165
Bogomolova S (2017) Mechanical observation research in social marketing and beyond. In: Kubacki K, Rundle-Thiele S (eds) Formative research in social marketing. Springer, Singapore, pp 125–143
Buhalis D (2000) Marketing the competitive destination of the future. Tour Manag 21(1):97–116
Cervantes O, Espejel I (2008) Design of an integrated evaluation index for recreational beaches. Ocean Coast Manag 51(5):410–419
Chacón-Chaverri D, Eckert KL (2007) Leatherback sea turtle nesting at Gandoca Beach in Caribbean Costa Rica: management recommendations from fifteen years of conservation. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 6(1):101–110
Coombes E, Jones A, Bateman I, Tratalos J, Gill J, Showler D, Watkinson A, Sutherland W (2009) Spatial and temporal modeling of beach use: a case study of East Anglia, UK. Coast Manag 37(1):94–115
Curry GN, Koczberski G, Selwood J (2001) Cashing out, cashing in: rural change on the south coast of Western Australia. Aust Geogr 32(1):109–124
D’Antonio A, Monz C (2016) The influence of visitor use levels on visitor spatial behavior in off-trail areas of dispersed recreation use. J Environ Manag 170:79–87
Da Silva CP (2002) Beach carrying capacity assessment: how important is it. J Coast Res 36:190–197
Davis R Jr, Fitzgerald D (2003) Beaches and coasts. John Wiley & Sons, United Kingdom
Deacon RT, Kolstad CD (2000) Valuing beach recreation lost in environmental accidents. J Water Resour Plan Manag 126(6):374–381
Duarte CM (2004) How can beaches be managed with respect to seagrass litter. In: Duarte CM, Krause-Jensen D, Greve TM (eds) European Seagrasses: an introduction to monitoring and management. M&MS Project Publisher. The M&MS Project Publisher, European Union, pp 83–84 http://imedea.uib-csic.es/icg/downloads/seagrass.pdf
Dwight RH, Brinks MV, SharavanaKumar G, Semenza JC (2007) Beach attendance and bathing rates for Southern California beaches. Ocean Coast Manag 50(10):847–858
Ferreira MA, Soares L, Andrade F (2012) Educating citizens about their coastal environments: beach profiling in the Coastwatch project. J Coast Conserv 16(4):567–574
Fish M, Cote I, Horrocks J, Mulligan B, Watkinson A, Jones A (2008) Construction setback regulations and sea-level rise: mitigating sea turtle nesting beach loss. Ocean Coast Manag 51(4):330–341
Foley JA, DeFries R, Asner GP, Barford C, Bonan G, Carpenter SR, Chapin FS, Coe MT, Daily GC, Gibbs HK (2005) Global consequences of land use. Science 309(5734):570–574
Gandomi A, Haider M (2015) Beyond the hype: big data concepts, methods, and analytics. Int J Inf Manag 35(2):137–144
Gurung TB, Thing A (2016) Fishing tourism can support Fisher’s livelihood and fish conservation in Nepal: a value chain analysis. Hydro Nepal: Journal of Water, Energy and Environment 18:55–60
Hansen AS (2016) Outdoor recreation monitoring in coastal and marine areas–an overview of Nordic experiences and knowledge. Geografisk Tidsskrift-Danish Journal of Geography:1–13
Hockings M, Twyford K (1997) Assessment and management of beach camping impacts within Fraser Island world heritage area, south-east Queensland. Aust J Environ Manag 4(1):26–39
Horwood C (2000) ‘girls who arouse dangerous passions’: women and bathing, 1900-39. Women’s History Review 9(4):653–673
James RJ (2000) From beaches to beach environments: linking the ecology, human-use and management of beaches in Australia. Ocean Coast Manag 43(6):495–514
Jang SW, Lee SK, Kim DH, Chung YH, Yoon HJ (2015) Application of remote monitoring to overcome the temporal and spatial limitations of beach litter survey. In: Kim T-h (ed) Advanced science and technology letters, Yeosu, Korea, May 21-23 2015. SERSC, pp 67–72. doi: http://dx.doi.Org/10.14257/astl.2015.95.13
Jentoft S (2000) Co-managing the coastal zone: is the task too complex? Ocean Coast Manag 43(6):527–535
Kennish MJ (2005) Estuaries, anthropogenic impacts. In: Schwartz ML (ed) Encyclopedia of coastal science. Springer, Netherlands, pp 434–436
King P, McGregor A (2012) Who's counting: an analysis of beach attendance estimates and methodologies in southern California. Ocean Coast Manag 58:17–25
Lemahieu A, Blaison A, Crochelet E, Bertrand G, Pennober G, Soria M (2017) Human-shark interactions: the case study of Reunion island in the south-west Indian Ocean. Ocean Coast Manag 136:73–82
Maguire GS, Miller KK, Weston MA, Young K (2011) Being beside the seaside: beach use and preferences among coastal residents of south-eastern Australia. Ocean Coast Manag 54(10):781–788
McLachlan A, Defeo O, Jaramillo E, Short AD (2013) Sandy beach conservation and recreation: guidelines for optimising management strategies for multi-purpose use. Ocean Coast Manag 71:256–268
Micallef A, Williams A (2002) Theoretical strategy considerations for beach management. Ocean Coast Manag 45(4):261–275
Micallef A, Williams AT, Radic M, Ergin A (2004) Application of a novel bathing area evaluation technique—a case study of Croatian island beaches. World Leisure Journal 46(4):4–21
Moran K, Webber J (2014) Leisure-related injuries at the beach: an analysis of lifeguard incident report forms in New Zealand, 2007–12. Int J Inj Control Saf Promot 21(1):68–74
Morgan D (2006) Surf beach risk and safety. In: Wilks J, Pendergast D, Leggat P (eds) Tourism in turbulent times: towards safe experiences for visitors. Elsevier, London, pp 217–229
Morgan D (2016) Development of a method to estimate and predict beach visitation. Tour Mar Environ. https://doi.org/10.3727/154427316X693234
Morgan D, Ozanne-Smith J (2013) Development and trial of a water exposure measure of estimated drowning risk for surf bathers. International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education 7(2):116–135
Morgan D, Ozanne-Smith J (2015) Measurement of a drowning incidence rate combining direct observation of an exposed population with mortality statistics. Int J Inj Control Saf Promot 22(3):209–214
Orams MB (2002) Feeding wildlife as a tourism attraction: a review of issues and impacts. Tour Manag 23(3):281–293
Paterson R (1990) Effects of long-term anti-shark measures on target and non-target species in Queensland, Australia. Biol Conserv 52(2):147–159
Pendleton L, Kildow J, Rote J (2006) The non-market value of beach recreation in California. Shore and Beach 74(2):34
Pikora T, Braham R, Hill C, Mills C (2011) Wet and wild: results from a pilot study assessing injuries among recreational water users in Western Australia. Int J Inj Control Saf Promot 18(2):119–126
Pilkey OH, Neal WJ, Cooper JAG, Kelley JT (2011) The world's beaches: a global guide to the science of the shoreline. Univ of California Press, Berkeley
Prabpriree M, Maneenetr T, Siriwong P, Yaipool K (2016) Implementing Sustainable Beach tourism management framework for the Royal Coast Cluster, Thailand. Asian Social Science 12(8):146
Rico-Amoros AM, Olcina-Cantos J, Sauri D (2009) Tourist land use patterns and water demand: evidence from the Western Mediterranean. Land Use Policy 26(2):493–501
Roca E, Villares M (2008) Public perceptions for evaluating beach quality in urban and semi-natural environments. Ocean Coast Manag 51(4):314–329
Saleh SAM, Suandi SA, Ibrahim H (2015) Recent survey on crowd density estimation and counting for visual surveillance. Eng Appl Artif Intell 41:103–114
Schlacher TA, Schoeman DS, Dugan J, Lastra M, Jones A, Scapini F, McLachlan A (2008) Sandy beach ecosystems: key features, sampling issues, management challenges and climate change impacts. Mar Ecol 29(s1):70–90
Short A (2016) OzCoasts: Australian online coastal information. Geoscience Australia. http://www.ozcoasts.gov.au/conceptual_mods/beaches/beach_intro.jsp
Smith MKS, Kruger N, Murray TS (2015) Aerial surveys conducted along the garden route coastline, South Africa, to determine patterns in shore fishing effort. Koedoe 57(1):1–9
Smith RA (1991) Beach resorts: a model of development evolution. Landsc Urban Plan 21(3):189–210
Spain SB (1999) Florida Beach access: nothing but wet sand? Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law 15(1):167–193
Staines C, Morgan D, Ozanne-Smith J (2005) Threats to tourist and visitor safety at beaches in Victoria, Australia. Tour Mar Environ 1(2):97–105
Stanton WR, Janda M, Baade PD, Anderson P (2004) Primary prevention of skin cancer: a review of sun protection in Australia and internationally. Health Promot Int 19(3):369–378
Sunger N, Teske SS, Nappier S, Haas CN (2012) Recreational use assessment of water-based activities, using time-lapse construction cameras. J Expo Sci and Environ Epidemiol 22(3):281–290
Trochim WM (2001) Research methods knowledge base. Atomic Dog, Cincinnati, Ohio
UNEP (2016) Impacts of tourism. United Nations Environment Program. http://www.unep.org/. Accessed 22 Oct 2016
Valdemoro HI, Jiménez JA (2006) The influence of shoreline dynamics on the use and exploitation of Mediterranean tourist beaches. Coast Manag 34(4):405–423
Wächter J, Babeyko A, Fleischer J, Häner R, Hammitzsch M, Kloth A, Lendholt M (2012) Development of tsunami early warning systems and future challenges. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 12(6):1923–1935
Wilks J, Dawes P, Williamson B (2005) Patrol smart 7/52: Queensland's integrated surf life saving program. Australian Journal of Emergency Management 20(1):38
Wolch J, Zhang J (2004) Beach recreation, cultural diversity and attitudes toward nature. J Leis Res 36(3):414
Wong PP (2000) Coastal tourism in Southeast Asia: research from the environmental perspective. In: Chon KS (ed) Tourism in Southeast Asia: a new direction, Haworth hospitality Press, London. The Haworth Hospitality Press, Binghamton, pp 107–121
Yasué M, Dearden P (2006) The potential impact of tourism development on habitat availability and productivity of Malaysian plovers Charadrius peronii. J Appl Ecol 43(5):978–989
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Morgan, D. (2018). Counting Beach Visitors: Tools, Methods and Management Applications. In: Botero, C., Cervantes, O., Finkl, C. (eds) Beach Management Tools - Concepts, Methodologies and Case Studies. Coastal Research Library, vol 24. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58304-4_27
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58304-4_27
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-58303-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-58304-4
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)