Tourism Stakeholders

Tourism Stakeholders

Coastal tourism is a type of tourism that invloves travelling to marine recreational areas present in other countries. South  Padre Island, in the beginning, was a small island populated with Karankawa Indians, turtles, and birds of migration. The Island was presented as a gift to Nicholas Balli by King Carlos III and much later found its hands under Padre Jose, who resulted in permanent settlers coming into the area, with the leading site of attraction being the church. The city was known to have love; hence many people chose it as a place to spend their vacation. The area is also known to have a rich history, where many have joined hands in Holy matrimony alongside the beach, which gives an incredible view as the shore gets washed by the waves (“Our History”, 2019). Coastal tourism is an important factor in South Padre since all sites located along the beach are suitable sites for tourist (“What are the main impacts of Coastal Tourism?”, 2020).

Coastal tourism provides some benefits such as, South Padre is in a position to acquire over a million tourist each year this enables it to be one of the factors that drive the economy. Residents of the city can be able to provide for their families, this is as a result of employment opportunities created by tourism. Increase in tourism leads to an increase in development of South Padre (Prepared by AECSPI Economic Impact, 2012Page 1E c o n o m i c I m p a c t o f S o u t h P a d r e I s l a n d, 2012).

Coastal tourism in South Padre has resulted to problems due to college students who visit the city during spring break. Both sexual activities and  Drug and substance abuse has been recorded to increase. This as a result of negative peer pressure. Police men have been deployed along major poing of the island to curb drug and substance abuse of college students. The police Depart has dedicated themselves to make sure tourist and locals are free from threats of attack (“Police Department”, n.d.).

Coastal tourism in South Padre has the potential of giving more education to residents and tourists conserning marine wildlife. This is as a result of the vrious activities tourist are round to engage in: Example, tourist are allowed to catch their own fish and later have the honor to cook the catch. Locally coastal tourism also has the potential of teaching on marine safety. Globally coastal tourism has the potential of teaching about destination vulnerability. Tourists will be able to learn on how policies result in climatic changes hence affecting areas along the coast (Santos-Lacueva et al., 2017). To encourage sustainability in coastal tourism South Padre island has used its revenue to  venture into constructing hotels, shops for retail and a number of entertainment options for tourist to increase their competition in the tourism industry.

Policymakers in South Padre Island have made efforts to ensure there are proper security measures set in place to make sure that residents, guests, and tourists have a secure experience on the island during periods of vacation. During spring breaks, cars cannot access certain areas to ensure the vast masses of people easily access the beach facilities. The presence of beach patrol is mandatory to ensure the safety of the people in areas of recreation. Policymakers also provide adequate mobile lifeguards that are mostly present during spring breaks to prevent cases of tourists and residents drowning in the ocean. The chief of police also stated that they would have a crime victim support in police stations. Assaulted people who are not willing to file police reports will be able to get assistance from the police. Such actions will help in maintaining a secure environment for tourists on the Island (Woosnam et al., 2015).

Tourists from various parts of the world visiting South Padre Island explain that the Island is the best place to be during spring break. Tourists love the sand since it facilitates sports activities like jogging and bike riding, and the sand is clean, with no rocks, and has smooth particles. They also commented that the sand lacks many shells to collect. Another advantage is the calm waters making tourists enjoy dipping their feet in the water and carry out swimming activities. Tourists are in a position to see the sunset at Pier 19 and tour the Island using a scoot coupe. Tourists have another benefit as they have the honor of cooking what they catch (Williams, 2016). The island is suitable for all ages to engage in recreation activities. Having inexpensive lodges, impressive beaches, and lovely places to enjoy your meals acts as an excellent advantage for tourists traveling to South Padre Island (Staff, 2020).

Residents in South Padre Island, Texas, explain that tourist activities in the area have affected them in various ways, by impacting their income and their quality of life. Tourism has provided several employment opportunities for residents resulting in paving the way for the improved infrastructure of the area due to the increase in investments. Tourism has led to the transformation of local businesses, as residents strive to cater demands of tourists in the area. Due to overcrowding, residents also say that rates of crime, prostitution, and the use of drugs have increased. Residents face challenges of increased pollution, traffic jams, and unruly behaviors  (Strzelecka, 2015).

Tourism managers have explained that they have specific measures in place to ensure the beach remains suitable for tourist and also reduce erosion of sand along the beach. The beach regularly gets raked and groomed to get rid of natural waste: Example, seaweed. The beach also gets raked to keep it comparatively level for ease in walking on the sand. All seaweed removed is strategically deposited at the base of the dune vegetation to help in dune vegetation revival. Other acts have helped to counter the effects of sand erosion: Example, they have located an offshore sand deposit. The offshore sand will facilitate replenishing the beach with more sand (Island, 2015).

All tourism stakeholders in South  Padre Island spoke of making sure all tourists visiting the area are comfortable as they explore the city since many tourists love going to the beach for recreational purposes. Tourism managers are promoting tourist’s comfort by ensuring that at all times, the beach has level sand to be walked on by tourists to avoid feet injuries. They are also making sure that the beach has adequate sand for both recreation and maintenance of its natural shores.

Policymakers are promoting tourist’s comfort by ensuring tourists enjoy security while staying in South  Padre Island. The police force is ensuring that during spring break, limited vehicles are allowed along the roads in areas near the beach; this is to facilitate the comfort of tourists as they walk towards various recreation facilities. Residents have also transformed their business to cater to requests of tourists for goods and services (Cuadros, n.d.).

Residents and policymakers share similarities as they evaluate on how to maintain security. Residents explain that tourism brings people from all walks of lives and some cause imbalance to the city as people indulge in unruly behaviors, engaging in drug addiction, crime, and acts of prostitution, which is contrary to norms of the residents. Policymakers, on the other hand, are trying their best to ensure that tourists and residents are secure and have guidelines to help them in case they want to file a police report.

There are various ways that the stakeholders of the city are ensuring tourism sustainability of the area. Tourism officials are taking necessary actions to prevent excessive sand erosion along the beach of South Padre Island. Policymakers are making sure everyone in the city is secure and also engage in practices that promote security in the city (Kelly, 2017). Police stations have necessary measures to ensure that anyone who gets assaulted has the law to help them. Policymakers, with the help of the health ministry, have set aside stand by ambulances to help those requiring urgent medical assistance. Ambulances ensure that such individuals have access to the nearest hospital facilities for treatment.

The city has invested its resources in developing its infrastructure through the taxes it acquires from tourists and residents, infrastructure carried out will help attract more tourists. South Padre has invested in technology to add to the recreation activities people can use to have fun. For example, tourists are now able to tour different parts of the city using a scoot scope. People intending to build hotels and restaurants have researched how to make modern facilitates, which will accommodate more tourists (Garcia, 2016).

References

Cuadros, A. What a New Access to South Padre Island Means to Residents. KVEO-TV. Retrieved 5 April 2020, from https://www.valleycentral.com/news/local-news/what-a-new-access-to-south-padre-island-means-to-residents/amp/.

Garcia, R. (2016). South Padre Island mayor continues to develop Valley hotels. Valley Star. Retrieved 5 April 2020, from https://www.valleymorningstar.com/2016/08/19/south-padre-island-mayor-continues-to-develop-valley-hotels/.

Island, S. P. (2015). Beach Maintenance Procedures.

Kelly, R. (2017). Security upgrade: New airport rules mean X-rays for electronics. Valley Star. Retrieved 5 April 2020, from https://www.valleymorningstar.com/2017/10/19/security-upgrade-new-airport-rules-mean-x-rays-for-electronics/.

Our History. Sopadre. (2019). Retrieved 5 April 2020, from https://www.sopadre.com/about-us/history/.

Prepared by AECSPI Economic Impact, 2012Page 1E c o n o m i c I m p a c t o f S o u t h P a d r e I s l a n d. (2012). [Ebook] (p. 1). Retrieved 6 April 2020, from https://southpadreislandedc.com/sites/default/files/files/Resources%20%26%20Studies/SPI%20Economic%20Impact%20Analysis%20Summary.pdf.

Police Department. The City of South Padre Island. Retrieved 6 April 2020, from https://www.myspi.org/department/index.php?structureid=31.

Santos-Lacueva, R., Clavé, S., & Saladié, Ò. (2017). The Vulnerability of Coastal Tourism Destinations to Climate Change: The Usefulness of Policy Analysis. Sustainability, 9(11), 2062. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9112062

Staff, V. (2020). 25 Best Things to Do in South Padre Island, Texas. VacationIdea. Retrieved 5 April 2020, from https://vacationidea.com/destinations/best-in-south-padre-island.html.

Strzelecka Ph D, M. (2015). Looking At Residents’ Attitudes towards Spring Break Tourism in Texas through the Lens of Community Attachment. Hospitality Review, 31(4), 4.

What are the main impacts of Coastal Tourism?. EPSON. (2020). Retrieved 6 April 2020, from https://www.espon.eu/what-are-main-impacts-coastal-tourism.

Williams, A. (2016). 10 Awesome Things to Do on South Padre Island in Texas. Dangerous Business. Retrieved 5 April 2020, from https://www.dangerous-business.com/south-padre-island-to-do-list/.

Woosnam, K., Shafer, C., Scott, D., & Timothy, D. (2015). Tourists’ perceived safety through emotional solidarity with residents in two Mexico–United States border regions. Tourism Management, 46, 263-273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2014.06.022