Green Transition through requalification of a coastal destination

Coastal cities are often popular destinations, and targets of mass tourism development. Yet their sensitive ecosystem - between sea and land - is more affected by environmental pollution and climate change. Therefore, sustainable tourism initiatives are growing especially in Europe, (Rasoolimanesh et al., 2020), to mitigate the harmful effects of tourism, and to build adaptive capacity to cope with and leverage on the effects of climate change. Green transition towards achieving net-zero calls for global efforts, but the consequences to tourism will vary among destinations (Scott and Gössling, 2021). The aim of this study is to analyze the role of tourism in the green transition of costal destinations. In particular, the relation between greening initiatives and tourism is examined. The study area is the Mediterranean coastal town of Rimini, Italy. The destination is stretched out in a 15 km long coastline of the Adriatic see and has one of the highest tourist densities in the country (Figini & Vici, 2012). Nevertheless, recent requalification projects in the city brought noticeable changes also to tourists visiting the destination. The study is based on a research collaboration with local authorities on on-going regional and European regeneration projects that focus on strategies aiming at green transition and blue growth at the destination. In particular, this work proposes a stakeholder analysis that maps engagement inside and outside of the city ecosystem. A theme-based categorization is followed by the investigation of relationships within different dimensions (physical and socio-economic) of the strategies. Data is collected through expert interviews and stakeholder engagement in participatory events. The results allow to derive managerial implications to aid the planning of tourism and greening policies of coastal destinations.