Are there limits to growth of tourism on the Caribbean islands? Case-study Aruba
Mass tourism is a major driver of economic growth in the Caribbean. One major trade-off of this economic growth model is the loss of natural areas due to tourism activities and increasing urbanization. Aruba is one of the most tourist intense destinations within the region with a total of 1.1 millio...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsut.2024.1292383/full |
| _version_ | 1797271413401321472 |
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| author | Sharona S. Jurgens Sharona S. Jurgens Eric Mijts Anton Van Rompaey |
| author_facet | Sharona S. Jurgens Sharona S. Jurgens Eric Mijts Anton Van Rompaey |
| author_sort | Sharona S. Jurgens |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Mass tourism is a major driver of economic growth in the Caribbean. One major trade-off of this economic growth model is the loss of natural areas due to tourism activities and increasing urbanization. Aruba is one of the most tourist intense destinations within the region with a total of 1.1 million stay-over tourists in 2019. Moreover, this island has one of the largest population densities in the Caribbean and high-speed urbanization takes place in this formerly rural island state. Therefore, this study aims to assess the islands' carrying capacity in relation to its limited land resources by means of a geospatial methodological analysis coupled with a correlation analysis between socio-economic indicators and statistics. First, the past and present drivers and characteristics of urbanization are analyzed. Second, the correlation between socio-economic indicators and the number of tourists was assessed. Third, two future scenarios were developed to assess the maximum carrying capacity. From 1986 till 2020, Aruba's built environment increased from ~29–60 km2 and translates to one-third of the island. Expansion was characterized by sprawl in the earlier years and changed to infilling in the latter. Furthermore, the results indicate that all socio-economic indicators are strongly positive correlated to tourism. Lastly, the possible maximum physical carrying capacity for yearly visitors and number of inhabitants was calculated to be ~1.7 million and 150.000, respectively. We conclude that the proposed methodological framework is robust and adequate to serve as a low budget decision-making tool for sustainable tourism development on islands. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T14:03:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bf9d77f4da1f444da17613ac0dded560 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2813-2815 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T14:03:23Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism |
| spelling | doaj.art-bf9d77f4da1f444da17613ac0dded5602024-03-07T04:42:06ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism2813-28152024-03-01310.3389/frsut.2024.12923831292383Are there limits to growth of tourism on the Caribbean islands? Case-study ArubaSharona S. Jurgens0Sharona S. Jurgens1Eric Mijts2Anton Van Rompaey3Sustainable Island Solutions through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics or (SISSTEM), Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Aruba, Oranjestad, ArubaDivision of Geography and Tourism, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumSustainable Island Solutions through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics or (SISSTEM), Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Aruba, Oranjestad, ArubaDivision of Geography and Tourism, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, BelgiumMass tourism is a major driver of economic growth in the Caribbean. One major trade-off of this economic growth model is the loss of natural areas due to tourism activities and increasing urbanization. Aruba is one of the most tourist intense destinations within the region with a total of 1.1 million stay-over tourists in 2019. Moreover, this island has one of the largest population densities in the Caribbean and high-speed urbanization takes place in this formerly rural island state. Therefore, this study aims to assess the islands' carrying capacity in relation to its limited land resources by means of a geospatial methodological analysis coupled with a correlation analysis between socio-economic indicators and statistics. First, the past and present drivers and characteristics of urbanization are analyzed. Second, the correlation between socio-economic indicators and the number of tourists was assessed. Third, two future scenarios were developed to assess the maximum carrying capacity. From 1986 till 2020, Aruba's built environment increased from ~29–60 km2 and translates to one-third of the island. Expansion was characterized by sprawl in the earlier years and changed to infilling in the latter. Furthermore, the results indicate that all socio-economic indicators are strongly positive correlated to tourism. Lastly, the possible maximum physical carrying capacity for yearly visitors and number of inhabitants was calculated to be ~1.7 million and 150.000, respectively. We conclude that the proposed methodological framework is robust and adequate to serve as a low budget decision-making tool for sustainable tourism development on islands.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsut.2024.1292383/fulltourismextractivismcarrying capacityland use land cover changeurbanizationCaribbean |
| spellingShingle | Sharona S. Jurgens Sharona S. Jurgens Eric Mijts Anton Van Rompaey Are there limits to growth of tourism on the Caribbean islands? Case-study Aruba Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism tourism extractivism carrying capacity land use land cover change urbanization Caribbean |
| title | Are there limits to growth of tourism on the Caribbean islands? Case-study Aruba |
| title_full | Are there limits to growth of tourism on the Caribbean islands? Case-study Aruba |
| title_fullStr | Are there limits to growth of tourism on the Caribbean islands? Case-study Aruba |
| title_full_unstemmed | Are there limits to growth of tourism on the Caribbean islands? Case-study Aruba |
| title_short | Are there limits to growth of tourism on the Caribbean islands? Case-study Aruba |
| title_sort | are there limits to growth of tourism on the caribbean islands case study aruba |
| topic | tourism extractivism carrying capacity land use land cover change urbanization Caribbean |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsut.2024.1292383/full |
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