Evaluation of the tourism carrying capacity: the case study of the Tremiti islands

An analysis of the Tourism Carrying Capacity of the Tremiti Islands (South Italy) has been performed in this paper with the aim of evaluating the sustainability of the touristic fluxes in the last decades and introducing ecological and fiscal measures to safeguard the Tremiti marine protected area. "Tourism Carrying Capacity" is defined by the World Tourism Org maximum number of people that may visit a tourist destination at the same time, without causing destruction of the physical, economic, socio-cultural environment and an unacceptable Tremiti Islands Marine Reserve, which is part of Gargano National Park, was established in 1989 and covers 1466 hectares (Iaffaldano and Ferrari, 2021). According to the Puglia Regional Tourism Agency, it is possible to observe that on the Tremiti Islands from 2005 to 2021 there was an increase of 7% of the number of the Italian touristic arrivals - i.e. the number of italian customers hosted in accommodation establishments (hotel or complementary) in the period considered - despite the fact that the years 2020 and 2021 were characterized by the presence of COVID. If we consider the presence of Italian tourists - i.e. the number of nights spent by Italian tourists in accommodation establishments - a percentage decrease of 18% between 2005 and 2021 was detected. These data confirm the Apulian seaside tourism vocation (Osservatorio Turistico Regionale Pugliese, 2019). According to Ajuhari et al., 2023 the normative approach and determining the carrying capacity of recreation and tourism of carrying capacity that emphasizes the maximum/optimum/acceptable number of tourists or visitors that may visit a destination without causing damage to the physical environment, as well as visitor experience satisfaction. In contrast, the normative approach method is associated with a definition of carrying capacity that emphasizes how much recreational use or the amount of use that can be allowed to address the carrying capacity. However, the above two main methods of assessing the carrying capacity could be combined, especially in a newly established area in which the carrying capacity could be implemented before recreational impacts take place. In addition, carrying capacity in tourism is based on complex data, where some of the data or indicators are outside the control of the destination and thus may require political will and policy changes to be implemented. Therefore, monitoring the effectiveness of the carrying capacity implemented is crucial to ensure its effectiveness (Ajuhari et al., 2023). The objective of this paper is to evaluate the tourism carrying capacity of the Marine Reserve of the Tremiti Islands through the computation of the Tremiti total net private benefit to understand what strategy should be adopted to develop and encourage forms of sustainable tourism in this area. Among the policies that could be adopted to encourage sustainable tourism there is the implementation of a specific ecological tax aimed at protecting the marine protected area or the introduction of a regulation limiting the number of visitors on the islands. The present work will use a questionnaire to be submitted to tourists heading to the Tremiti Islands to evaluate the impact of these policies and suggest different measures. The expected result is a multi-scenario with different implementation possibilities.