For the first time since its launch, EMODnet is expanding its portfolio with a dedicated data theme on coastal tourism, marking an important step towards integrating socio-economic data into its marine knowledge offer.
Coastal tourism is a key pillar of the European Blue Economy, generating growth and employment, while also exerting increasing pressure on coastal ecosystems and infrastructure. Access to harmonised, high-resolution data is therefore essential to support evidence-based policymaking, including Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP), coastal zone management and sustainable tourism strategies.
The new data theme currently includes two core datasets:
A high-resolution layer on the number of nights spent by tourists in coastal municipalities (Local Administrative Units – LAUs), based on Eurostat data and georeferenced at local level for fine spatial analysis.
A comprehensive set of tourism indicators at NUTS 3 level, derived from the Joint Research Centre’s EU Tourism Dashboard. These include tourism intensity, density, accommodation capacity, tourism diversity, environmental quality indicators (such as bathing water status and Blue Flag sites), and links to protected areas and cultural assets.
Together, these datasets provide a unique, integrated view of tourism dynamics and pressures along Europe’s coasts, enabling policymakers, planners and stakeholders to better balance economic development with environmental sustainability.
The coastal tourism data theme marks a turning point in EMODnet’s coverage of coastal areas, and there are already plans in place for enriching it with more data layers. Stay tuned for more updates!