880

Botero, et al.

Reasons for beach choice: European and Caribbean perspectives

Camilo Botero, Giorgio Anfuso@, Allan T. Williams#, Seweryn Zielinski, Carlos P. da Silva, Omar
Cervantes, Lidia Silva and Juan Alfredo Cabrera+
Grupo de Investigacin en Sistemas
Costeros, Universidad del Magdalena,
Carrera 32 # 22-08, Santa Marta,
Colombia
grupo.sistemas.costeros@gmail.com
playascol@yahoo.com

Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra,

Facultad Ciencias del Mar y Ambientales,
Universidad de Cdiz, Polgono Ro San
Pedro s/n, 11510 Puerto Real, Spain
giorgio.anfuso@uca.es

# Built Environment, Swansea

Metropolitan University, Swansea, Wales
SA1 6ED, UK
allan.williams@virgin.net

e-GEO, Faculdade de Cincias Sociais

Universidad de Colima. Manzanillo,

Mexico
homaruss@gmail.com
lsilva@ucol.mx

+ Oficina de Manejo Costero de

Varadero, CITMA. Playa de Varadero,
Matanzas, Cuba
ofiplaya@enet.cu

e Humanas, Universidade Nova de

Lisboa, 1069-061 Lisboa, Portugal
cpsilva@fsch.unl.pt

www.cerf-jcr.org

@ rea de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad

EAFIT, Carrera 49 N 7 Sur - 50,
Medelln, Colombia.

ABSTRACT

www.JCRonline.org

Botero, C., Anfuso, A., Williams, A.T., Zielinski, S., Silva, C.P., Cervantes, O., Silva, L., Cabrera, J.A. 2013. Reasons
for beach choice: European and Caribbean perspectives In: Conley, D.C., Masselink, G., Russell, P.E. and OHare, T.J.
(eds.), Proceedings 12th International Coastal Symposium (Plymouth, England), Journal of Coastal Research, Special
Issue No. 65, pp. 880-885, ISSN 0749-0208.
Beach users preferences range greatly according to their cultural and educational heritage, national and local traditions,
social status, sex, etc. Questionnaire surveys carried out on beach user preferences (50 beach aspects) in Wales, UK (n
= 2,345); Hollywood beach, Florida, USA (n = 83), the Costa Dorada, Spain (n =157); Malta (n = 154) and Turkeys
Aegean coast (n = 245) showed that five parameters were of the greatest importance on beach choice: safety, facilities,
water quality, litter and scenery. Such kind of detailed surveys has never been carried out in Caribbean countries.
Consequently, a great uncertainty exists regarding beach users preferences. During Easter 2012, a total of 435 beach
users along eight beaches of the Caribbean littoral of Colombia (Mayapo, Riohacha, Taganga, Rodadero, Puerto
Colombia, Salgar, Bocagrande and Manzanillo) were interviewed. Specifically, persons were asked (i) to choose from a
list of parameters, the three most important aspects to be taken into account in choosing a beach and (ii) the reason they
decided to visit that specific beach. Dealing with the former, results differed from ones recorded in Europe in that
scenery was deemed not to be important. Concerning the latter, great variety of responses was recorded but the main
aspect in beach selection was proximity for both local and national visitors. Aspects such as a relaxed friendly
atmosphere and party atmosphere were mentioned. In this sense, it is interesting to notice the particular perception
that Caribbean beach users showed for the relaxed friendly atmosphere. On many occasions beaches classified as
such, were very crowded and extremely noisy because of loud music and peddlers. Results obtained constitute a first
step in the knowledge of Caribbean beach users preferences and therefore is one, which is of a great importance for
beach management.
ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS: Beach users preferences, environmental quality, beach management, ICZM,
Colombia, Proplayas.

INTRODUCTION
Coastal occupation has been increasing in the past few
decades especially due to coastal tourism-related activities.
Tourism is now one of the worlds largest industries (Jones and
Phillips, 2011): in 2006, global tourism was worth US$733
billion, employed 8% of the global workforce and estimates were
for 1.6 billion international tourists by 2020 (UNWTO, 2008). In
the Mediterranean region tourism is the most important activity
with 298 and 400 million international and domestic tourist
arrivals in 2008. Along the Caribbean, tourist arrivals have
increased five fold, from 166 million in 1970 to 935 million in
2010 and cruise arrivals grew even more rapidly over the same
period increasing from 1.3 in 1970 to 20 millions in 2010
(Caribbean Tourism Organization, 2011). Despite the fact that
____________________
DOI: 10.2112/SI65-149.1 received 07 December 2012; accepted 06
March 2013.
Coastal Education & Research Foundation 2013

Colombia has been affected by a number of political, social and

security problems, tourism currently represents one of the most
important activities, with 974,721 international arrivals (mostly
from the U.S.A., Canada and the European Union) and 3,411,523
domestic tourism arrivals to its coastal areas in the 2009-2011
period (PROEXPORT, 2011). The capacity for growth appears to
be almost limitless. In order to preserve and improve beach
tourism, it is important to understand beach users preferences and
perceptions. Questionnaire surveys carried out on beach user
preferences in Wales, UK, Hollywood beach, Florida, the Costa
Dorada, Spain, Malta and Turkeys Aegean coast, showed that
five parameters were of the greatest importance on beach choice,
i.e. safety, facilities, water quality, litter and scenery (Ergin,
Williams, and Micallef, 2006; Williams and Micallef, 2009).
Such kind of detailed surveys have never been carried out in
Colombia and great uncertainty exists regarding beach users
preference (e.g. the reasons taken into account in choosing a

Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 65, 2013

Reasons for beach choice: European and Caribbean perspectives

881

Interviewees were selected randomly along the beach and the

minimum number of surveys needed per beach was based on
infinite universes (n=1000) according to Cervantes et al. (2008),
however two beaches had fewer tourists during the sampling
period (Table 1), but a sample size of 400 gives a standard error of
5% (Williams and Micallef, 2009). Beach survey personnel were
instructed to obtain a stratified sample of the beach using
population, by interviewing individuals of various ages at a variety
of locations selected via random number tables, on each beach.
The majority of beach users were interviewed when resting under
some kind of sunshade very common in Colombian beaches,
which are rented by local community (Figure 2). Moreover, all
people interviewed were asked for their profile in terms of age,
education, employment, income, company (With whom are you
with today on the beach?), gender and residence.
Figure 1. Location of the eight studied beaches (Colombia,
South America)
beach) and perception (the interaction between people and
physical environments). Knowledge of both parameters is
fundamental for management of natural resources and may be
used to design beach environments according to users needs and
desires (Zube et al., 1982; Morgan et al., 1993; Cervantes et al.,
2008). During Easter 2012, a total of 435 beach users were
interviewed along eight beaches of the Caribbean coast of
Colombia (Mayapo, Riohacha, Taganga, Rodadero, Puerto
Colombia, Salgar, Bocagrande and Manzanilo; Figure 1).

METHODS
As part of a research program into the preferences of tourists
for choosing a beach destination, this work was carried out as an
exploratory investigation, according to Hurtados (2010), views
who, i.e. dividing research into ten categories from exploratory to
evaluative. In consequence, observation techniques used allowed
identification of the widest range of events. Instruments used to
obtain information were questionnaires, as previous information
was not found regarding beach users preferences in this study
area.
Coastal questionnaire surveys are generally of two types:
postal or via interviewing the beach users (Williams and Micallef,
2009). The latter methodology was chosen for fieldwork carried
out in this paper, because it is most common in scientific literature
related with beaches in Europe (Ergin et al., 2004; Morgan et al.,
2000; Pereira da Silva, 2004) and Latin America (Cervantes et al.,
2008; Espejel et al., 2007; Polette, 2009).
Questionnaire surveys were conducted at eight beaches in four
territorial departments on the north Caribbean coast of Colombia
(Figure 1). In total 435 beach users were interviewed during
Easter Week of 2012, and asked about general beach preferences
(which are three most important aspects for choosing a beach as a
destination?) and specific beach preference (why did you choose
this beach?). Although all beach users were asked for three
aspects in the first question, many of them only answered one or
two aspects and the total responses were 1223. Data obtained was
included in statistical software (IBM SPSS 18th Edition) and
processed to assess the relative priority levels of beach users
preferences. The questionnaire survey included also other
questions about coastal scenery not discussed in this paper.
The beach survey personnel applied as many surveys as
possible during a half day, covering in some cases all tourists on
the beach (e.g. Salgar, Manzanillo).

RESULTS
Beach user profile
The majority of studies concerning beach perceptions divide
users into two categories of origin: locals/residents and
foreign/visitors (Cervantes et al., 2008; Marin et al., 2009;
Rangel-Buitrago et al., 2012, Roca and Villares, 2008; Williams
and Micallef, 2009). However, foreign tourists in Colombian
beaches are few in comparison with nationals (Botero et al., 2012;
Daza, 2012), therefore users were divided into three categories:
locals (57.8%), nationals (35.8%) and foreign (5.0%). Local users
are people who live in the same city or municipality in which the
beach is placed and other Colombian users were classified as
nationals. This criterion allowed analysis of the importance of
national tourism in Colombian beaches and explains many results
obtained for proximity as a major reason for choosing a beach
In general, the gender of users was similar (female: 52.3%,
male: 45.4% and no answer: 2.3%), but the proportion of foreign
males were much higher than females The age of users was

Figure 2. Sunshades on a beach on the north Caribbean coast of

Colombia.

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882

Botero, et al.

Table 1. Top five general beach users preferences in rural and urban beaches (n=1,223)

RURAL

QUANTITY
URBAN

TOTAL

RURAL

WATER AND SAND QUALITY

113

154

267

22,29%

21,51%

21,83%

RELAXED-FRIENDLY
ATMOSPHERE

54

87

141

10,65%

12,15%

11,53%

FACILITIES

64

64

128

12,62%

8,94%

10,47%

SECURITY AND SAFETY

34

73

107

6,71%

10,20%

8,75%

FAMILY-FRIENDLY
ATMOSPHERE

30

47

77

5,92%

6,56%

6,30%

TOTAL

295

425

720

58,19%

59,36%

58,87%

TOP 5

divided into five ranks, the majority being people between 19 to

30 years old (37.4%) and 30 to 40 years old (31.9%). Similarly,
six categories of employment were established, showing the

PERCENTAGE
URBAN

TOTAL

normal distribution among five ranks, with a mean of $1.824.000

COP per month (1000 US Dollars), although men earn more than
women.

General beach preferences

The questions about general preferences were predefined in
twenty different options, so that new responses given by
interviewees could be included. As a result, 23 different responses
were obtained, with frequencies ranging from 5 to 267. Figure 3
shows the total answers of each response, in which the five most
important were: water and sand quality (267), relaxed-friendly
atmosphere (141), facilities (128), security and safety (107) and
family-friendly atmosphere (77). These five responses represent
58.87% of the total answers, showing the high importance of those
aspects.

Figure 3. General Beach users preferences in Caribbean beaches

of Colombia (n=1223)

Regarding differences between urban and rural beaches,

contrary to what was expected, the five most important
preferences maintained almost the same order and proportionality
(Table 1). The only clear difference between the kinds of beaches
was a preference about facilities, which was the second option in
rural beaches (12.62%) and fourth in urban ones (8.94%), but third
in the total responses list (10.47%).
In contrast, results about the most important preferences in each
beach showed a bigger variability. Only two beaches (Mayapo and
Salgar, both rural ones), had the same five preferences as given for
all beaches, but not in the same order. Taganga beach included
only two of the top five preferences, water and sand quality and
relaxed-friendly atmosphere, it being a unique beach with this
particularity (Table 2). Regarding common preference differences
to the Big five, in the eight beaches studied, crowding and
proximity were included, three and two times respectively;
however, all answers were less than 6% of the total.

Specific beach preferences

majority of beach users being employed in a company (43.6%)
and self employed (31.4%). On the contrary, education and
company had a clear focus in one category. In the former, 48.4%
of users studied for a degree, while only 19.7% had a technician
degree or secondary studies certificate (24.1%). Regarding the
latter, the majority of users went to the beach with their families
(61.9%), as against only 17.4% of people who went with friends
and 16.3% as a couple. Finally, the income of users showed a

Questions about specific beach preference were open-ended. In

spite of that, only 22 different answers were recorded with a
strong concentration in five answers as shown in figure 4
(68.82%). The first reason for choosing a beach was proximity
(35.57%), being even more important than the next four reasons
together. This result is similar with other places on the world, such

Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 65, 2013

Reasons for beach choice: European and Caribbean perspectives

883

Table 2. Five most important general beach users preferences in eight Colombian beaches (In italic letters non-top 5 preferences)
DEPARTMENT
BEACH NAME
1st Preference

Guajira
Mayapo

Magdalena

Riohacha

Taganga

El Rodadero

Water and
Water and
Water and
Water and
sand quality sand quality sand quality sand quality

2nd Preference

Facilities

Party
atmosphere

Proximity

3rd Preference

Relaxedfriendly
atmosphere

Security and
safety

Relaxedfriendly
atmosphere

4th Preference

Security and
safety

5th Preference

Familyfriendly
atmosphere

Total Responses

Atlntico

148

Salgar
Facilities

Bolvar

Puerto
Colombia

Manzanillo

Bocagrande

Water and Water and

sand quality sand quality

Water and
sand quality

Security and Water and

Security
safety
sand quality and safety
Relaxedfriendly
atmosphere

Relaxedfriendly
atmosphere

Water
activities

RelaxedSecurity and
friendly
Cheap prices Crowding
Facilities
safety
atmosphere
FamilyFamilyFamilyfriendly
Crowding
friendly
friendly
Proximity
atmosphere
atmosphere atmosphere
221

196

159

123

58

Facilities

Relaxedfriendly
atmosphere

Relaxedfriendly
atmosphere

Facilities

Security and
safety

Security and
safety

Scenery

Crowding

40

278

as Italy (Marin et al., 2009), USA (Cervantes et al., 2008) or

Portugal (Vaz, 2008).
The next reason to choose a beach was related with traditional
tourist motivations: to discover new places (9.01%), interest in
destination (8.55%) and beach reputation (8.55%). In contrast with
the first reason, very few studies have included these options
within their results. The fifth reason to choose a beach was the

existence of facilities, with only 7.16% of answers and other

reasons producing less than 5% of total answers.
As a last result, rural and urban beaches had similar patterns in
the majority of responses, with just two exceptions: water and
sand activities were five times more important in urban than rural,
and water and sand quality was twice more important in rural than
urban beaches.

Figure 4. Specific beach users preferences in Caribbean beaches

of Colombia (n=433)

Studies about beach perception have been researched several

times in Europe (House and Phillips, 2007; Marin et al., 2009;
Micallef et al., 1999; Morgan and Williams, 1995; Morgan et al.,
1996; Morgan et al., 2000; Roca, and Villares, 2008; Tudor and
Williams, 2006; Vaz, 2008) with almost similar results. However,
beach users preferences in the Caribbean, at least on the
Colombian coast, were slightly different with those preferred in
Europe, mainly about the five most important parameters for
choosing a beach for tourists (safety, water quality, facilities,
scenery and litter).
In Europe safety is generally the most important aspect to
choose a resort/urban beach, in the Caribbean it was water and
sand quality. This result could be related with difference among
questionnaires, because in the current work, the two choices often
used in others studies, litter and water quality, were two
separate questions. In this study they were grouped together. In
future studies they will be divided.
Water quality and sand cleanliness are very important aspects
for beach management. Previous studies in Turkey showed that an
absence of sewage and litter, water colour and clarity, absence of
noise, quality of built environment and landscape features are the
top five parameters for choosing a beach (Ergin et al. 2003, Ergin
et al. 2004). Similar preferences were identified by Cervantes and
Espejel (2008) in Brazil, Mexico and USA, where users at all sites
liked the sand and agreed that seawater and sand beaches should
be clean.
In addition, some studies concluded that visual factors influence
users perception, which associates absence of litter with clean
water or evidence of a drain or discharge with questionable water
quality (Cervantes and Espejel, 2008). Similarly, in Turkey it was

DISCUSION

Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 65, 2013

884

Botero, et al.

Table 3. Beach users preferences in Caribbean versus Europe

Preference

CARIBBEAN

EUROPE

1st

water and sand quality

Safety
relaxed-friendly
2nd
water quality
atmosphere
3rd
facilities
facilities
4th
security and safety
scenery
family-friendly
5th
litter
atmosphere
found that some negative features for beach users are high litter
amounts, noise, absence of buffer zones and degraded natural
environments (Ergin et al., 2003).
At the same time, safety is the fourth most important aspect for
beach users of the north Colombian coast, but this perception is
affected by idiomatic particularities: in Spanish, security and
safety are the same word and answers mix both meanings; the
opposite to English where the difference between them is clear.
Moreover, the perception of security in Latin America used to be
more relevant than Europe, criminality is much higher in the
former than in the latter (Lagos and Dammer, 2012). Even though,
safety is still one of the most important aspects in European and
Caribbean beaches (Table 3).
Other particularities in Caribbean beaches, is a preference for
specific sensations on the beach. Answers related to some
specific atmosphere meant a desire to enjoy the beach in some
particular way. Two of the five most important preferences are
related with this particularity: relaxed-friendly atmosphere and
family-friendly atmosphere; similar kind of preferences were
reported by McKenna et al. (2011) in Ireland, but with less
relevant scores. The former could be understood as scenery, but
this choice was also included and obtained less than 4% of the
total answers; a hypothesis could be that relaxed-friendly
atmosphere is the perception of holidays and rest. On the other
hand, family-friendly atmosphere is coherent with the users
profile obtained, as a high majority of interviewers were on the
beach with their families; highlighting the importance of the beach
for a healthy lifestyle.
In relation with general and specific preferences, no one has
written about this topic. Normally, studies about beach users
preferences have a predefined list of aspects (general preferences)
and beach users choose one or more of them. In a few cases,
researchers ask users with open-ended questions about their
motivations to visit the beach (specific preferences), however this
technique is more common in social than physical disciplines and
Table 4. General versus Specific beach users preferences in
Caribbean beaches of Colombia

st

2nd

GENERAL
Water and sand
21,83%
quality
Relaxed-friendly
11,53%
atmosphere

3rd

Facilities

4th

Security and
8,75%
safety
Family-friendly
6,30%
atmosphere
58,87%

5th
Total

10,47%

SPECIFIC
Proximity
Discover new
places
Interest in
destination

35,57%
9,01%
8,55%

Beach reputation 8,55%

Facilities

7,16%

the majority of coastal researchers are from the former. In this

study, both techniques were used and results identified important
differences between countries (Table 4). Only facilities were
included in both preferences, as one of the five most important
parameters, which generates doubt about the true preference of
beach users to choose a beach: are they on the beach for their
general preferences? Or are they motivated mainly for specific and
more tangible aspects, as proximity or curiosity? Merely as an
explanation, general preferences could be the objective
motivation to choose a beach and specific preferences the
subjective reason.
Considering both kind of preferences and according with its
high score, proximity is the main reason for beach users
choosing a beach on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, as in many
parts on the world (Cervantes et al. 2008, Marin et al 2009, Vaz
2008). In this sense, beach managers should focus more their
efforts to knowing local needs rather than investing thousands of
dollars trying to transform beaches to attract foreign visitors. This
result also revaluates the importance of beaches as public areas
and a meeting point for local people. Moreover, surveys were
done in the highest tourist season during the year (Easter Week),
when a majority of national and foreign visitors is expected.
At the same time, inconsistencies between specific and general
preferences should be studied in depth, because until now
management has been focused in the big five of the general ones
(Williams and Micallef, 2009). Another unexpected result, at least
according to the literature, was the similarity between urban and
rural beaches. Almost all general preferences were in the same
order and magnitude in both kinds of beaches, facilities being the
only divergence. They were even more important in rural than
urban beaches, showing another difference with previous studies
in Europe (McKenna et al., 2000; Nelson et al., 2000; Nelson and
Botterill, 2002; Williams and Micallef, 2009). Nevertheless,
recent studies in Colombia recommend limiting tourist
infrastructure in rural beaches (Rangel-Buitrago et al., 2012),
contrasting with these results.
Finally, the assumption of scenery as one of the Big five
should be highlighted. Several studies and publications about
beach users preferences include scenery within the main aspects
of managing a beach, based on its importance for beach users
(Williams and Micallef, 2009). In some places, such as Wales and
USA, scenery is the first or second main reason to choose a beach,
(Williams, 2011). However, on the north coast of Colombia its
importance was much lower, it being 11th within 26 options.

CONCLUSIONS
Beach users preferences in the Caribbean are similar to
Europe, but not enough to manage beaches on the same way. In
countries, such as, the United Kingdom or Malta aspects, such as,
safety and scenery are of the utmost importance, in Colombia
preferences are related mainly with the atmosphere on the beach.
Nevertheless, the presented results are merely exploratory and
more research is needed to obtain strong conclusions. In any case,
tourism on the Caribbean coast should be based on natural and
cultural realities of whole-year round destinations.
Proximity is the main reason to visit a beach on the north coast
of Colombia. This has been quoted by several authors in many
countries, and beach managers should include distance from the
beach to urban areas as a crucial factor in making decisions. If
results of this study are the pattern for the entire Caribbean, a rural
or urban classification could be less relevant than proximity to
populated areas from which visitors come.

68,82%

Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 65, 2013

Reasons for beach choice: European and Caribbean perspectives

Cleanliness and facilities, even in Europe as in the Caribbean,

keep their importance within beach management. Any effort done
for improving these aspects will result in a better acceptance of
beach users. 3S tourism in Colombia, the Caribbean and even
Latin America is a high potential activity; beach management
must be based on information about local conditions and
preferences of visitors. This study, as an exploratory research,
helps to better understanding of the beaches and offers new
perspectives to investigate in depth.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work is a result of the Joint Research Program
Environmental Quality of Tourist Beaches on the North
Caribbean Littoral of Colombia (University of Magdalena,
Technical University Comfenalco and University of La Guajira).
Furthermore, this work is a contribution to the Andalusia Research
Group RNM-328 and the Ibero-American Network of Beach
Management and Certification PROPLAYAS.

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Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 65, 2013