Assessing the Effects of Tourism Boom on the Sustainable Development of the Coastal City of Bushehr

Document Type : Research Article - Case Study

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Persian Gulf University, Bushehr, Iran.

10.22124/gscaj.2026.31249.1367

Abstract

The boom in coastal tourism, in all its aspects, brings coastal cities closer to creating sustainable communities. While coastal tourism is rapidly growing, these areas are currently under significant population pressure due to urbanization, presenting a dual perspective on their status. This study aimed to enhance the impacts of coastal tourism on the sustainable development of Bushehr by employing the ISM method, relying on the expertise of specialists and informed individuals. The research method, which was also a novelty aspect of this study, was qualitative, utilizing Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and MICMAC analysis for data processing. The sample consisted of 100 professors, students, and knowledgeable individuals in the research field. The results indicated that indicators such as “sales of local products (C1),” “creation of job opportunities (C3),” “improvement of living standards and services for host communities (C4),” and “preservation and revival of traditional occupations (C5),” while playing influential roles in shaping other components, are themselves highly affected by the operational environment and the overall system structure, thus holding the greatest importance. Ultimately, the structural analysis highlighted the necessity of an integrated and systemic approach where tourism growth is not merely an economic goal but a tool to enhance quality of life, ecological sustainability, and social cohesion in coastal cities.




Highlights

  • The application of ISM and MICMAC methods in analyzing the impacts of coastal tourism represents a significant innovation in coastal area studies, enabling the identification and prioritization of key indicators in the sustainable development of coastal cities.
  • Emphasizing a systems-thinking approach to coastal tourism is a novel perspective for enhancing quality of life, environmental sustainability, and social cohesion in coastal regions, offering an effective model for integrated management of these areas.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  1. Kinseng, R. , Tonny, N. , Fredian, F. , Anna, M. , Amir, J. Stanford, R. (2018). Marine-tourism development on a small island in Indonesia: blessing or curse?. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 23(11), pp. 1062-1072.

Ali, M., Ekawati, S. A., Taskirawati, I., Nur, D. S. A., Irfan, M., Nasaruddin, A. N., Zaira, M. R., & Hasnah, D. H. (2024). Sustainable coastal tourism: A comprehensive development strategies (Tanjung Bira and Lemo-lemo tourism area as a case study). International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning, 19(7), 2075–2086.

Atik, M. , Altan, T. , & Artar, M. (2010). Land Use Changes in Relation to Coastal Tourism Developments in Turkish Mediterranean. Polish J. of Environ. Stud. 19(1), pp. 21-33.

Alrwajfah, M. M. , Almeida-García, F. ,& Cortés-Macías, R. (2019). Residents’ Perceptions and Satisfaction toward Tourism Development: A Case Study of Petra Region, Jordan, Sustainability, 1(19), pp. 1-19.

- Azar, A. , & Bayat, K. ( 2009). Designing a Model for "Business Process-Orientation" Using Interpretive Structural Modeling Approach (ISM). Journal of Information Technology Management, 1(1), pp. 3-18 ]In Persian[

Bushehr Province Department of Roads and Urban Development. (2005). Restoration and conservation plan of Bushehr historical texture (Vol. 5). Bushehr, Iran. ]In Persian[

Dadvarkhani, f. , Gharanjik, A. , Ghanbarinasab, A. , & Akbari Samani, N. (2013). Tourism Role in the Development of Coastal Bandar Turkmen Bazaar. Journal of Human Geography Research, 4(44), pp. 111-128. ]In Persian[

Ebrahimnia Samakoush, S. , Khaksari, A. , Latifi, Gh. , & Damadi, M. ( 2013). Assessing the Role of Urban Tourism in Economic-Environmental Development of the City of Babolsar. Journal of Urban Economics and Management, 1(3), pp. 17-31 ]In Persian[

Caffyn, A. ,  & Jobbins, G. (2003). Governance Capacity and Stakeholder Interactions in the Development and Management of Coastal Tourism: Examples from Morocco and Tunisia. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 11(2-3), pp. 224-245.

Carvache-Franco, W. , Carvache-Franco, M. , & Hernández-Lara, A. (2021). From motivation to segmentation in coastal and marine destinations: a study from the Galapagos Islands. Ecuador, Current Issues In Tourism, 24(16), pp. 1-17.

Cerqua, A. (2017). The signalling effect of eco-labels in modern coastal tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25(8), pp. 1159-1180.

Coccossis, H. , & Koutsopoulou, A. (2020). Measuring and monitoring sustainability of coastal tourism destinations in the Mediterranean. Tourism, 68(4), pp. 482 – 498.

Dadvarkhani, f. , Gharanjik, A. , Ghanbarinasab, A. , & Akbari Samani, N. (2013). Tourism Role in the Development of Coastal Bandar Turkmen Bazaar. Journal of Human Geography Research, 4(44), pp. 111-128. ]In Persian[

Dimitrovski, D. , Lemmetyinen, A. , Nieminen, L. , & Pohjola, T. (2021). Understanding coastal and marine tourism sustainability - A multi-stakeholder analysis. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 19(1), pp. 1-12.

Duan, P. , Cao, Y. , Wang, Y. , & Yin, P. (2022). Bibliometric Analysis of Coastal and Marine Tourism Research from 1990 to 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, 38(1), pp. 229–240.

Ebrahimnia Samakoush, S. , Khaksari, A. , Latifi, Gh. , & Damadi, M. ( 2013). Assessing the Role of Urban Tourism in Economic-Environmental Development of the City of Babolsar. Journal of Urban Economics and Management, 1(3), pp. 17-31 ]In Persian[

Fanni, Z. , Alizadeh Touli, M. , & Zahmatkesh, Z. (2015). The Effects of Tourism on Urban Sustainable Development on the Base of Habitant's Views; Case Study: Qeshm Island. Tourism Management Studies, 9(28),  pp. 39-72 ]In Persian[

Faramaki, A. (2012). A Supply-Side Evaluation of Coastal Tourism Diversification: The Case of Cyprus. Tourism Planning & Development, 9(2), pp. 183– 203.

Ghosh, T. (2011). Coastal Tourism: Opportunity and Sustainability. Journal of Sustainable Development, 4(6), pp. 67-71.

Hall, C. M. (2001). Trends in ocean and coastal tourism: the end of the last frontier?. Ocean & Coastal Management, 44(1), pp. 601-618.

Hanafiah, M. H. , Jamaluddin, M. R. , & Kunjuraman, V. (2021). Qualitative assessment of stakeholders and visitors perceptions towards coastal tourism development at Teluk kemang, port dickson. Malaysia Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 35(1), pp. 1-9.

Haghi, M. R., & Heydarzadeh, E. (2022). Strategies for enhancing the tourism capacity of coastal cities: The case study of Bushehr city. Urban Tourism Journal, 9(4), 87–103.]In Persian [

Jamali, Y. , Motavalli, S. , Malekshahi, Gh. , & Rajabi, A. (2021).  An Analysis of the Role of Coastal Tourism in Sustainable Urban Development (Case Study: Coastal Cities of Babolsar, Noor and Royan). The Journal of Spatial Planning and Geomatics, 25 (4), pp. 45-70 ]In Persian[

Jarratt, D. , & J. Davies, N. (2020). Planning for Climate Change Impacts: Coastal Tourism Destination Resilience Policies. Tourism Planning & Development, 17(4), pp. 423-440.

Kabil, M. , Priatmoko, S. , Magda, R. , & David, L. , D. (2021). Blue Economy and Coastal Tourism: A Comprehensive Visualization Bibliometric Analysis. Sustainability, 13(3), pp. 1-25.

Kim, G. S. , Chun, J. , Kim, Y. , & Kim, C. (2021), Coastal Tourism Spatial Planning at the Regional Unit: Identifying Coastal Tourism Hotspots Based on Social Media Data, International Journal Of Geo-Information, 10(167), pp. 1-20.

Liu, J. , An, K. , & Jang, S. (Shawn). (2020). A model of tourists’ civilized behaviors: Toward sustainable coastal tourism in China. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 16(10), pp. 1-10.

  1. Klein, Y. , & Osleeb, J. (2010). Determinants of Coastal Tourism: A Case Study of Florida Beach Counties, Journal of Coastal Research, 26(6), pp. 1149-1156.

Lukoseviciute, G. , & Panagopoulos, T. (2021). Management priorities from tourists’ perspectives and beach quality assessment as tools to support sustainable coastal tourism. Ocean and Coastal Management, 208(10), pp. 1-11.

Lu, X. , Yao, S. , Fu, G. , Lv, X. , & Mao, Y. (2019). Dynamic simulation test of a model of ecological system security for a coastal tourist city. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 13(1), pp. 73-82.

Maione, C. (2021). Quantifying plastics waste accumulations on coastal tourism sites in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 168(12), pp. 1-8.

  1. Papageorgiou, A. ( 2019), Developing a Sufficient and Effective Coastal Tourism Model, TOLEHO, 1(1), pp. 29-34.

Onofri, L. , & Nunes, A. L. D. P. (2013). Beach ‘lovers’ and ‘greens’: A worldwide empirical analysis of coastal tourism. Ecological Economics, 88(1), pp. 49-56.

Pafi, M. , Flannery, W. , Murtagh, B. 2020,  Coastal tourism, market segmentation and contested landscapes, Marine Policy, Volume 121(1), pp. 1-10.

Panwanitdumrong, K. , & Chen, C. L. (2021). Investigating factors influencing tourists' environmentally responsible behavior with extended theory of planned behavior for coastal tourism in Thailand. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 169(11), pp. 1-12.

Papageorgiou, M. (2016). Coastal and marine tourism: A challenging factor in Marine Spatial Planning, Ocean & Coastal Management, 129(1), pp. 44-48.

Pegu, D. , & Goswami, S. (2020), Tourism Entrepreneurship and its Impact on Women in Assam in North East India: A Review of Studies, Journal of Tourism, 3(1), pp. 70-81.

 Ramazanian, M. , Moradi, M. , & Soltani, F. (2015). Analysis of cultural barriers to interoperability in the automotive supply chain using interpretative structural modeling approach. Organizational Culture Management,13(2), pp. 369-391 ]In Persian[

Sajadi, J. , Razavian, M. t. , Heidari, J. , & Jamali, H. (2018). The Role of Urban Management in Sustainable Development of Coastal Tourism from the Perspective of the Host Society (Case Study of Bushehr City). Journal Of Research and Urban Planning, 9(33), pp. 1-16 ]In Persian[

Shahr va Barnameh Consulting Engineers. (2013). Detailed plan of Bushehr city. Bushehr Province Department of Roads and Urban Development, Iran ]In Persian[

- Saghaei, M. , & Amini Nejad, Gh. R. , S. , Gh. R. (2015). Analyzing the Impact of Tourism on Social and Cultural Development (Case Study: Bushehr Township). Regional Planning, 5(18), pp. 131-140 ]In Persian[

- Safari Nematieh, F., Rahimizadeh, M., & Shahbazi, M. (2025). Identifying factors affecting the development of international sports tourism based on electronic marketing (Case study: coastal sports of Chabahar port). Geographical Studies of Coastal Areas Journal, 3(6), 21–41 ]In Persian[

Santos-Lacueva, R. , Anton Clavé, S. , & Saladié, Ò. (2017) The Vulnerability of Coastal Tourism Destinations to Climate Change: The Usefulness of Policy Analysis. Sustainability, 9(2), pp. 1-19.

Scott, D. , Charles Simpson, M. , & Sim, R. (2012). The vulnerability of Caribbean coastal tourism to scenarios of climate change related sea level rise. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 20(6), pp. 883-898.

Suryawan, I. W. K., Rahman, A., Suhardono, S., Sutrisno, A. D., Nguyen, V. V., & Lee, C.-H. (2025). Evaluating tourist preferences influences on renewable energy initiatives in coastal tourism settings. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 212, 104148.

Sohn, J. , Alakshendra, A. , Kim, H. , Kim, K. , & Kim, H. (2021). Understanding the New Characteristics and Development Strategies of Coastal Tourism for Post-COVID-19: A Case Study in Korea. Sustainability, 13(7), pp. 1-13.

Tipu Sultan, M. Sharmin, F. , Badulescu, A. , Stiubea, E. , & Xue, K. (2021). Travelers’ Responsible Environmental Behavior towards Sustainable Coastal Tourism: An Empirical Investigation on Social Media User-Generated Content. Sustainability, 13(56), pp. 1-19.

Tovar-Sánchez, A. , Sánchez-Quiles, D. ,& Rodríguez-Romero, A. (2019). Massive coastal tourism influx to the Mediterranean Sea: The environmental risk of sunscreens, Science of the Total Environment, 656(1), pp. 316-321.

Visbech A. , Marie, I. , Blichfeldt, S. , Bodil, J. Liburd, J. (2018), Sustainability in coastal tourism development: an example from Denmark, Current Issues in Tourism, 21(12), pp. 1329-1336.

Williams, S. J. (2013). Sea-Level Rise Implications for Coastal Regions. Journal of Coastal Research, 63(1), pp. 184-196.

 

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics