Economic development versus environmental sustainability: The case of tourist marinas in Andalusia

Economic development generated by business activity has traditionally been analyzed without looking at its environmental impact. However, in the last few years new trends in economic thinking have emerged, such as environmental economics, that provide convincing proof of the inter- relationship of the economy to the environment. This thinking is even more evident in some areas of the economy such as tourism. This article reviews the existing literature on the subject, and then makes a new empirical contribution to the relationship between environmental management and economic results by limiting the field work to tourist marinas in Andalusia, one of the foremost tourist destinations in Spain. A two-pronged – quantitative and qualitative – methodology will be used to discover the specific characteristics of this tourist product and critical aspects of it relating to environmental management by the organizations developing it and the stakeholder groups involved in this activity. This way the hypothesis on whether environmental sustainability is compatible with economic development may be tested. If it proves true, then proposals will be formulated to improve the competitiveness of nautical tourism in Andalusia in line with sustainable development.