Blue Flag Beaches

María A. Prats is Professor of Applied Economics at Universidad de Murcia, Spain, and Visiting Senior Fellow at the European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom. Fernando Merino is Professor of Applied Economics at Universidad de Murcia, Spain.

General introduction

María A. Prats and Fernando Merino

1. Origin, first steps and forthcoming challenges to the Blue Flag

José R. Sánchez Moro

2. The Blue Flag programme, at national and international levels: What, why, how, and where to?

Nikos Petrou and Johann Durand

3. Blue Flags in the world: a bibliometric analysis

Fernando Merino and María A. Prats

4. Social, political and managerial perspectives on Blue Flag beach certification

Seweryn Zielinski and Camilo M. Botero

5. Does the Blue Flag program contribute to the schievement of the Sustainable Development Goals?

José A. Albaladejo-García and José A. Zabala

6. Dive in Blue Flags: A historical evolution in Europe

María Escrivá-Beltrán and Rosa Currás-Móstoles

7. The path of Blue Flag in Latin America and the Caribbean: History, challenges and learnings

Camilo M. Botero, Paloma Arias and Lourdes Diaz

8. Impact of Blue Flags on local economy in Spain

Ana B. Ramón-Rodríguez, Teresa Torregrosa, Luis Moreno-Izquierdo and José F. Perles-Ribes

9. Blue Flag supporting implementation of environmental policies and nature conservation: The case of Greece

Nikos Petrou, Dareia-Nefeli Vourdoumpa and Chara Agaoglou

10. Blue Flag and tourism destination efficiency: The French case

Aurélie Corne, Olga Goncalves, Nicolas Peypoch

11. The challenge of sustainability in territorial development: The impact of Blue Flag on tourism – The Italian context

Francesco Manta, Giulio Fusco and Pierluigi Toma

12. Blue Flags on islands in the Republic of Croatia

Kristina Bučar, Izidora Marković Vukadin and Zvjezdana Hendija

13. The impact on the local economy of having coastal areas with Blue Flag: The Turkish case

Zeliha Eser and Selay Ilgaz Sümer

14. Blue Flag South Africa: Reflections on a decade of progress

Serena Lucrezi and Peet van der Merwe

15. Challenges and opportunities of the Blue Flag certification in Canada

Rachel Dodds and Mark Holmes

16. Managing paradise: Reflections on the management of Mexican beaches with the Blue Flag label

Omar Cervantes, Aramis Olivos-Ortiz, Jerónimo Ramos Saenz Pando, Dora María Castro-Linares and Itzel Sosa-Argáez

17. Blue Flag in Brazil: Beginning and growth

Marinez Scherer, Leana Bernardi, Isabela Keren Gregorio Kerber and Alessandra Pfuetzenreuter

18. Blue Flag in India: Beacons for sustainable coastal management

Sujeetkumar M. Dongre, Shriji Kurup and Sanskriti Menon

19. The status of Blue Flag in Japan: Can Blue Flag be used for beach community development as a sustainable tourist destination?

Norie Hirata and Susumu Kawahara

General conclusions

María A. Prats and Fernando Merino