From a drone’s eye view: indicators of overtourism in a sea, sun, and sand destination

Abstract

This article examines overtourism indicators at Kailua Beach Park in Hawaiʻi, and demonstrates a systematic approach to assessing carrying capacity by pairing descriptive indicators with more commonly used evaluative indicators. Data were obtained from an onsite survey of 452 visitors. Questionnaires with embedded photographs measured visitors’ perceived encounters, norms, and crowding (evaluative indicators), while an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was used to collect actual use levels at the site (descriptive indicator). In total, 63% of respondents felt crowded at this site, suggesting that it is nearing over-capacity. Respondent norms showed that no more than approximately 950 people should be allowed. Use levels exceeding 700 people caused respondents to feel moderately or extremely crowded, yet use levels commonly exceeded this threshold. Standards representing these numeric thresholds should be set at this site, and management action is critical (e.g., quotas, reservations, fees, encourage alternative sites). This research contributes to the literature by demonstrating the importance of all four indicators (use levels, encounters, norms, crowding) when investigating overtourism issues, and the potential of UAVs to support the measurement of descriptive indicators.

Keywords:

• Indicators
• use level
• crowding
• overtourism
• UAV
• beach tourism

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the efforts of the following research assistants who supported fieldwork and data entry: Stephany Calvillo, Derek Ford, John Laws, Renee Setter, Kaylin Strauch, and Yoko Uyehara.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this project was provided by the City and County of Honolulu, Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency under a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Project A/AS-1, which is sponsored by the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program under Institutional Grant No. NA18OAR4170076 from NOAA Office of Sea Grant, Department of Commerce. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA or any of its sub-agencies (UNIHISEAGRANT- TT-20-02).

Notes on contributors

Brian Szuster

Dr. Brian Szuster is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. His research interests focus on human-environment relationships in coastal environments with a concentration on marine tourism and aquaculture. He has active research projects in both Hawaiʻi and Southeast Asia.

Mark D. Needham

Dr. Mark Needham is a Professor in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University. He focuses on human dimensions of recreation, tourism, and natural resources (e.g. wildlife, forests, marine environments). He is also Editor of the international journal Human Dimensions of Wildlife.

Laura Lesar

Dr. Laura Lesar is a Senior Lecturer in the College of Business, Government and Law at Flinders University. Her research interests include sustainable tourism and associated quality control tools, wine business and tourism, and destination management. She has active and multi-disciplinary research projects in these areas.

Qi Chen

Dr. Qi Chen is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. His research interests focus on remote sensing, artificial intelligence, and geospatial information sciences. He has active research projects using high resolution remote sensing data and machine learning methods for precise environmental mapping.