Tourism in northern Germany is focussed on summer season and concentrated along the coast. Large parts of the coast are subject to erosion and natural sandy beaches, which are required for bathing tourism, are rare. The beaches are or might become a limiting resource for further growth in tourism. Therefore, detailed knowledge about the spatial and temporal demands and behaviour of vistors at the beach are required. A new automatic method is presented to quantify the density of visitors on the beach. With a webcam the daily, weekly and seasonal course of visitors was observed. Linked to arial photographs, the data allowed the calculation of the beach area, which was available for every visitor at any time. The results are shown exemplary for Warnemünde. In Warnemünde the new pier causes the exceptional situation of sand accumulation and a steady broadening of the beach. Despite that, the visitors are concentrated in a narrow strip close to the water, where sand quality is best. The average area available for every visitor in this strip during summer was only between 7.7 and 11.9 m² per person. The beach near the dunes is reserved for roofed wicker beach chairs, which cause a lower density of visitors. In this part, every visitor occupied an area between 28 and 62 m² per person. In Warnemünde the beach is not really a limiting resource, but it is likely that many visitors are not pleased and avoid the beach during the peak hours. Further, the analyses show that an integrated management concept for the coastal infrastructure, dunes, beaches and coastal waters is required. |
