ABSTRACT
Eco-labels such as Blue Flags can be effective for enhancing both sustainability and tourism. Given the ongoing political debate on the effectiveness of Blue Flags for promoting tourism, we analyze the impact of the number of Blue Flag beaches on tourist arrivals (international and domestic, respectively) for Spanish coastal provinces. Panel data techniques are used to evaluate Blue Flags econometrically for the longest and most recent time period in the literature (2000–2019). Findings suggest that Blue Flags are effective at promoting international tourism but not domestic tourism. Different patterns for international and domestic tourists mean that differentiated policies should be applied.
Acknowledgments
The authors are very grateful to co-editor Colin Michael Hall and the anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 Ceuta and Melilla are excluded to prevent any deviations due to their small size and tourist volumes.